Blog: Glimmers in the Fog by Kim Stiver

Harnessing the Power of Habit

11/20/2019

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There’s nothing like a major life event to upend the apple cart of habits. Bad ones seem to get worse, and good ones become harder to keep. And while I’ve written about the power of habit and routines before, like so many other life-altering topics, this is one that God keeps reminding me to pay attention to… and I’m guessing that He always will. No matter how much we mature, the force of habit is something that will always live inside of us. Sometimes we grow out of a bad habit and manage to cultivate a good one. Other times, we grow complacent and let old habits creep back in, even when we thought we’d banished them forever. And in what might be the worst-case scenario, we occasionally discover that what we thought was a good thing to do has actually been causing us harm for a very long time. Good, bad, new, or old, the force of habit is both shocking and powerful in its ability to either prevent change or create it. That’s because habits are rarely, if ever, neutral in their effect. They either entrench a behavior or challenge it.

In his groundbreaking book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg said, “(Habits) shape our lives far more than we realize — they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.” When hearing that statement, I immediately feel better about myself, and perhaps you do as well. After all, misery loves company, right? But despite knowing that all the emotions we feel about having to change or give up a habit are entirely natural, we are still faced with the challenges associated with changing our routines and behaviors throughout our lifetimes. Things that worked in college, don’t always help us in the work world. What succeeds in one job may be the worst thing we could do in another one. Ways of handling relationships, money, food, our bodies, lifestyle choices, and even our spare time all must evolve if we want to remain on the beneficial side of habits and routines.

For the past two summers in a row, I’ve experienced a renewed sense of awe and some bewilderment at how closely habits are also tied to our sense of place, as much as they are related to our preferences and weaknesses. I originally wrote about the force of habit last year when a deluge of out-of-town house guests over a two-month period caused me to wonder if I was getting too set in my ways. At the time, I thought their disruption of my daily routines and the order of my world was at a minimum noticeable and occasionally uncomfortable, but I now know that their impact was downright mild compared to the challenge my husband and I faced this summer when we uprooted our lives and moved across the country. Everything about our sense of place was altered. Guests weren’t just injecting themselves into our world for a few days or weeks. We left our generally comfortable world behind to inject ourselves into a sea of unfamiliarity. All of my routines went out the window, and many of my bad habits found their way into my new life first, long before the good ones even had a chance to unpack.

Being out of routine in the place where you dwell is naturally unsettling, so our bodies and minds immediately experience dissonance when a familiar environment becomes inhospitable to our habits. This is why changing our bad habits is so hard in the first place. We are conditioned to them, and we naturally return to them, especially in times of weakness, stress, or sadness. According to Duhigg, “Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allow our minds to ramp down more often.”
Yet the Word of God tells us that we have a power far greater within us than that of habits.

Hebrews 12 is one of my favorite scripture passages about the importance of keeping good habits and working to change the bad ones. In verse 11, we find incredible encouragement: “For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” This verse hangs on my wall above my computer to remind me that being watchful of our habits and making tough changes to our routines can only be done through critical observation and continuous training.

Paul goes on to say in verse 12: “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” The Holy Spirit will lift us up, empower us, and give us the endurance to make hard changes and then stick with healthy habits of all kinds, no matter whether they are spiritual, physical, or relational in nature. Paul had firsthand experience with replacing bad habits with new ones. Imagine the changes that he had to make when he abandoned his life as a Jewish persecutor of Christians and became a Christ-follower himself. Every habit, schedule, expectation, and routine he possessed needed to change. And when you’re facing a mountain of changes all at once, there’s nothing Satan wants to achieve more than to bring you down and make you feel weak in the knees. That’s when we need to lift our tired and weary hands regardless of our emotions and sing praises to the One who will always strengthen and encourage our hearts.

Sometimes it’s tempting to think that God doesn’t understand the power of habit in our lives, especially when we sense the Holy Spirit prompting us to make very difficult changes. But the One who made us in His very image and knows every thought that pops in our heads or lingers in our hearts, completely understands the ramifications of how He made us. Proverbs 5:21 says, “For God sees everything you do and His eyes are wide open as He observes every single habit you have.” God created the power of habit and He knows firsthand how it can be used for our good or for our detriment. That’s why Psalm 64:10 says to make praise your habit because God is always at work, and Hebrews 10:24-25 encourages us to stick with the habit of gathering together in fellowship, teaching, and worship. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” The body of Christ thrives when its people join together and spur each other on in habits that glorify God and draw us closer to Him.

The Bible also promises us success when we honor God with our lives as living sacrifices, which is the same thing as turning our daily habits, goals, resources, and time over to Him to direct and manage for His purposes. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” As believers, we have the power inside of us to change any habit and cultivate a life that points to Jesus. I am reminded of this every day before I exercise. I don’t want to exercise. As a matter of fact, I downright dread it. But there’s no room for laziness when committing to a good, but a difficult habit to maintain. If I let just one day go, with the exception of simply being unable to exercise due to something like an illness, then I suddenly find that it’s even easier to let the second day slide, and the third day after that… and before I know it, I’ve fallen off the fitness wagon and onto my couch… with a bag of popcorn. And maybe some Ben & Jerry’s. Not good.

Mental habits are no exception to laziness, either. As a continually recovering worrier, I must exercise the muscles of my mind every day to avoid sliding into anxiety or negative thoughts. Yes, there are days I fail at exercise and at cultivating a peaceful heart (usually on the same day!), but deep-diving into scripture study, singing praise to God, and spending time in prayer are good habits that also act as guardrails to keep me from completely sliding off the cliffs of laziness, complacency, and discouragement.

I’m sure someone out there listening to this or reading this post is feeling discouraged about their habits and wanting to shout at me, “You make it sound so easy. You have no idea what kind of habit I’m dealing with or how many times I’ve failed to make a change.” And that’s one of the reasons that encouraging people in their faith through blogging and podcasting is so very difficult. Real changes… difficult changes… lasting changes are best cemented in community. We may read a book and find newfound motivation, but the impact probably won’t last without accountability from others. We might find incredible inspiration in hearing someone’s testimony in a podcast or maybe during a Sunday sermon, but without creating our own action plan and making it personal, all the inspiration in the world will likely fizzle. Harnessing the power of habit is possible, but it takes incredible effort, a long time, multiple failures, and usually a village to make it happen.

Centuries ago, the Renaissance-era scholar Desiderius Erasmus wisely said, “A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit.” Any habits we want to change for the better cannot simply be removed. We must replace them with another habit, that offers us more. Only Jesus does that. Only an intensely intimate and deeply personal habit of living in the presence of God stands a chance of holding a candle to the comfort of routine behaviors designed to make us feel better physically or emotionally on a temporary basis. Clearly, Erasmus was well ahead of his time regarding the power of habit and human resistance to change. History tells us that he advocated tirelessly for reformation within the church prior to Martin Luther’s arrival on the scene. He challenged many detrimental practices and encouraged religious leaders to put an end to a number of abuses in the name of faith.

Today, however, we live in an age where a person’s sense of self and identity is commonly wrapped up in their physical characteristics, desires, and actions. Most people are not looking toward faith for the answers pressing on their hearts. Yet Jesus holds out His hand and tells us to crave something more than what our five senses can give us. What He offers is the only thing that will truly satisfy and never be taken from us, yet we so often trade the most fulfilling thing in the world for a moment of habit-driven pleasure, peace, or happiness. Our identity is sadly misaligned through the culmination of our habits and routines. David Mathis, who wrote Habits of Grace, puts it this way: “Your habits are, in fact, one of the most important things about you. Those repeated actions you take over and over, almost mindlessly, reveal your true self over time as much as anything else.”

In the next few minutes, you and I will both do something out of habit. Another cup of coffee, perhaps. A nervous cough when we see someone we don’t want to talk to. Time in front of the TV with our favorite show. While every moment has its purpose, God understands that we need to relax, recharge, and laugh. He knows that there is comfort in routines and familiarity. But He also intends for us to join Him as He works in hearts and minds around us. And sometimes, the comfort of our habits can blind us to extraordinary opportunities popping up all around us. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit can turn anything routine into something life-changing. So instead of looking at everything you do through the lens of effort expended or pleasure rewarded, why not start asking God to invade your habits for His glory and His use?

Being reminded of how powerful my habits are and how important God’s calling should be in my life, has made me realize the very things I don’t usually think about are some of the most critical things to actually spend time thinking about. Harnessing the power of our habits is certainly not easy, but yielding to the Holy Spirit to help us do it gives us a power that’s even greater than the force of the habits themselves.

Five-Day Devotional Guide For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
These readings from today’s message can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week. Before you begin reading the passage for each day, spend some time asking God to open your heart to His truth and hearing His voice.
Day 1 - Read and meditate upon Proverbs 5:21, Isaiah 55:8-9, and Proverbs 3:5. How does it bring you comfort to know that God sees your every habit? Are you willing to trust His ways and direction more than your own analysis and wisdom? Spend a few minutes asking God to search your heart in the days ahead and commit to being open to His promptings. Write down anything He whispers to your heart.
Day 2 - Begin with prayer and then sit in God’s presence without words for at least five minutes. Spend some time journaling today about your habits. Write without judgment or trying to make decisions. Just focus on making observations. How do you find that your habits change when you find yourself out of your normal routine or place? What do you think that reveals to you? What things do you do every day or every week, no matter what? Which of your habits were taught to you or modeled by someone else, like a parent?
Day 3 - Read Psalm 139:23-24 and then spend some time meditating on it and praying. What habits do you think God is telling you to modify, give up, or replace in some way? What new habits is He leading you to start doing?
Day 4 - Read Hebrews 12:11-12 in at least three different translations of the Bible. Spend some time asking God to reveal any fruits of His Spirit in your life or lessons learned as a result of going through a time of suffering, change, or discipline. Then spend time praising and thanking God for them.
Day 5 - Today, set aside time to make an action plan for change. Don’t try to change more than one habit at a time, but instead, ask God to help you prioritize which one to tackle first. Be sure to include the reasons behind making the changes, because going back and reviewing your “why” will be critical to your success. Once you are ready, pray over your steps and ask God to give you an accountability partner for the journey. You may also want to seek out resources to help you in the process prayerfully.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts on this post! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

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10 Keys to a Contented Heart

10/2/2019

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When most of us think of contentment, we usually associate the virtue with a sense of satisfaction or peace specifically about money or possessions. But contentedness is listed in the dictionary as an antonym to envy, and when you think of it from the opposite point of view, an entirely different list of scenarios arises. Certainly money-related discontentedness — like houses, cars, careers, and clothes — is a common trap. Still, there are two other major, less tangible categories of restless dissatisfaction that we are less likely to recognize or acknowledge. The first I’ll label the image and social status category. Everything from a person’s fitness level to their community standing falls into this list of everyday envy triggers. And the other group is the more subtle, but just as common bucket of dissatisfaction that is sparked not by jealousy or comparisons, but powerful, deep-seated longings, such as personal achievement and individual happiness.

No matter what category our source of discontentment lies, the longer we let it fester and grow, the more trouble we get into. When our desire for it is so strong that we become fixated on it, it’s absence begins to taint our outlook on life, reduce our joy, fuel our restlessness, and water a slow-growing seed of bitterness.
Having walked in our shoes, Jesus knows what it means for us to struggle with discontentment, envy, and restlessness. Even still, He calls us to holy contentment in all situations, surroundings, and seasons of suffering. In other words, He promises that we can be satisfied and peaceful resting in Him during in every discomfort, period of waiting, or unfairness. That doesn’t mean it’s never God’s will for us to be discontent or restless, because sometimes the Holy Spirit does move in our lives to stimulate healthy changes that need to be made. But even when God is pushing us to take up a cause, modify or eliminate habits, or initiate a healthy confrontation, a soul-level contentment should still remain even if our minds and hearts are growing restless for positive change. A soul-level contentment is firmly rooted in the knowledge that He’s in control and knows what’s best for us, even if our life is in a time of upheaval or waiting.

But how do we attain this soul-level contentment and arm ourselves against all types of dissatisfied restlessness, envy, and jealousy? As it is with so many instructions from Jesus, the concept is simple, but the implementation is difficult. Yet, He promises us that when we allow His Spirit to work in our hearts to bring about transformation, His burden will be easy, and His yoke will be light. And I think that is the most beautiful part about our pursuit of contentment — it is our yielding to His effort in our lives, not our own. It is our surrender, not our striving, that makes soul-contentment possible. Still, it is helpful to receive some practical guidance — something we can get our heads around and apply to our daily lives — from those who have walked this road before us.

One such person is Thomas Watson, who wrote The Art of Divine Contentment almost four centuries ago. Despite its date of publication, the keys to contentment it describes are just as relevant today as they were in 1653. I guess it doesn't matter whether you are grumbling because you can’t afford the newest iPhone, or your team of oxen won't plow your field fast enough, learning to be content with what we have and what life brings us is an age-old problem for any generation. For some of you, the rest of this blog will sound familiar, as I originally recapped Watson’s rules for contentment in a previous blog post a year and a half ago. But since I am currently struggling with discontentment during a season filled with both disappointment and waiting, I needed to revisit Watson’s brilliantly-worded roadmap for satisfaction in Jesus. Like a familiar sweater or favorite comfort food, Watson’s words remind me of God’s uncompromising truth in a warm, compassionate embrace.

For a self-confessed word nerd like me, the ornate language in Mr. Watson's book makes his quotes all the more intriguing and beautiful. However, I don't want 400 years of change in the English language and culture to get in the way of wisdom, so I've taken the liberty of paraphrasing and consolidating his 18 rules into 10 keys for a contented heart. And if your mind starts filling with objections as to why you can't produce contentment right now, he even has advice on objections and how to overcome them. Thankfully, he doesn't include ancient agrarian frustrations like misbehaving oxen, but rather serious impediments we can still relate to like a financial loss, death of a loved one, and betrayal by a friend. Life has changed dramatically in the last four centuries, but when it comes to matters of the heart, most everything is the same. So, without further ado, here are the 10 keys — with a few new additions along the way.

Key #1: Put your faith in action.
All discontentment is rooted in unbelief. Having faith that God is trustworthy, that He is aware of your situation, and desires to help you through whatever life brings you, is the antidote to unfulfilled cravings and feelings of entitlement. When we determine in our hearts to trust that God knows what He is doing better than us, we put our faith in action. Psalm 84:11 says, “The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” The problem is that we think we know what is better for us than God does. And here comes one of my favorite Watson quotes: “We imagine a certain condition of life as good for us, but if we were our own carvers, we should often cut the worst piece. We often see things in our own light, but if we could sort out and portion out our own comforts, we would get it wrong.” When we choose to believe that God alone knows what’s best for us, we’ll be able to receive the best portion.

Key #2: Work for God, not for money or your boss.
When we focus on serving God in every little thing we do — and we labor so that He will be glorified in our lives, versus money, achievement or accolades — then everything else falls into place. As Steven Curtis Chapman sings, “Whether you're flipping burgers or cooking up mergers, do it all for Him.” Sure, you won’t get it right all the time, but when you discover contentment in the fruits of your labors, no matter how meager or huge they may be, you will experience true joy and soul-deep peace. (See Colossians 3:23)

Key #3: Strive for humility.
If unbelief is the root of discontentment, then pride is its food and water. Pride can make a fledgling unbelief blossom into a full-grown thorn bush of discontentment, grumbling, and pessimism. “When you lay humility for your foundation, contentment will be the superstructure,” according to Watson. (See 1 Peter 5:6-7)

Key #4 Delight in the right things.
When we ask God to replace the desires of our hearts with His, we will be gradually transformed into vessels of joy and generosity, overflowing with satisfaction in our work, our relationships, and our financial situation. Meditate on Psalm 37:4 and discover real delight.

Key #5 Stay positive.
At first blush, this sounds like a cop-out, right? But Watson asks, “Who looks at the backside of a painting?” Instead, he admonishes us to focus on what’s beautiful, lovely, true, excellent, and praiseworthy. When we discipline our thought life, according to Philippians 4:8, the Biblical promise of transformation can occur.

Key #6 Don’t place your hope in people or things.
Everything in our culture today revolves around the idea of doing whatever it takes to make yourself happy. But happiness is a feeling, and contentment is a virtue. Happiness is temporary and contentment is a state of being that breeds peace and trust. When we look to people, things, jobs, circumstances, or money to make us happy, we will eventually be disappointed and even emptier than before. “The foundation of contentment must be within yourself. The word for contentment in Scripture signifies self-sufficiency,” Watson says. When you place your hope in God’s promises and direction, you will have strength and endurance from within. Psalm 33:20-22 encourages us to wait for God with patience and courage. When we let God bring the right things to us in His time, we find freedom from the slavery of envy and restlessness.

Key #7 Compare yourself to others the right way.
Comparing yourself to others is like walking on thin ice, you might fall through into a well of envy and end up drowning in discontentment. However, Watson encourages us to compare ourselves to others in light of Christ’s sacrifice and how He’s called us to honor and serve them as He would have. Jesus washed the disciple's feet, which was considered the lowliest act for the lowliest servant of the household. (See James 3:16)

Key #8 Adjust your perception.
In the field of public relations, there’s a common saying that perception is reality. That’s because we often believe what we think we see, and we see what we want to see. But within each of us there is an ability to change our perceptions, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, our vision can vastly improve over time. We can choose to see what we have versus what we don’t. We can choose to place a high value on spending time with friends versus spending money on the latest outfit. We can focus on things that bring glory to God, versus glory to ourselves. Watson says if we could cure our distorted, sin-trained perceptions, we would find the secret to conquering a discontented heart. (See Matthew 6:33, Romans 12:2)

Key #9 Meditate on the promise of heaven.
We are most tempted to be discontent at our extremes — when we are the happiest and when we are in the greatest discomfort. When everything is going well, we can be lulled into a false sense of security, and then entitlement, and eventually self-reliance. We don’t see our need for God because it is covered by all of our creature comforts. On the other hand, when nothing is going right, we can become despondent and fixated on everything we lack. And most of life is spent going between the two extremes. But when we place our “treasure in heaven,” as Matthew 6:19 says, our satisfaction comes from glorifying God in any circumstance. Paul said it best in Philippians 4:11-13, “In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Key #10 Pray… A LOT!
Back in the 1600s, physicians used a horrible medical treatment that makes me cringe. They would intentionally bleed patients thinking that the letting of blood would take the toxins with it. Although the practice is grim, I mention it to provide context for Watson’s statement that, “When the heart is filled with sorrow and disquiet, prayer lets out the bad blood. The key of a prayer oiled with tears unlocks the heart of all its discontents. It is the unburdening of the soul.” As we endeavor to find contentment deep in our hearts, prayer is the best medicine for a lifetime of soul satisfaction. When you spend a lot of time living in the King's throne room, your desire to wander the streets looking for trinkets vastly diminishes. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

My fellow traveler on this road between birth and heaven, I have no idea what your root of discontentment might be. But, I do know this beyond a shadow of a doubt… We are called to rest in the waiting, not be restless in nervous anticipation of the unknown or the unreceived. Jesus gently urges us to rest in our heavenly Father’s best, not what our own minds tell us we need or want to be happy. May you be encouraged today that when you press into Him through the application of these 10 keys, you will find a respite from yourself and soul-level contentment in the arms of your Savior.

Five-Day Devotional Guide For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week. Before you begin reading the passage for each day, spend some time asking God to open your heart to His truth and hearing His voice.

Day 1 - Read Philippians 4:11-13 several times in a few different versions of the Bible. What areas of your life are trouble zones for a lack of contentment? (i.e. eating, shopping, neighbor envy, relationships, etc.) What is God saying to you about changing your habits, perspectives, or behaviors related to these trouble zones?
Day 2 - The love of money is often at the root of discontentment. How has your desire for money, things, or a certain lifestyle fueled or impacted your contentment? Search for the topic of money using a digital Bible app or online Bible. What verses speak to you the most and why? Memorize and meditate upon the one that speaks to your heart the most.
Day 3 - Read Psalm 27:14. Think back on a time when you had to wait a long time on something to happen or a long-desired change to occur. How did God use the time of waiting to spur you to rest in Him and trust Him more?
Day 4 - Read Lamentations 3:24-26. God’s timing is always perfect, even though to us, it may seem as though He has forgotten us or doesn’t understand the depth of our desires and needs. When have you been impatient for God to open the door and how can you see why He didn’t bring it about sooner?
Day 5 - Which one of the 10 keys do you want to start working on today? Put together a plan to pray, study the Word, and create life boundaries around something specific to avoid temptation.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts on this post! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

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Praising God Past the Point of No Return

9/11/2019

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Praising God Past the Point of No Return

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A few weekends ago, my husband and I took a much needed day away from a long list of household chores to enjoy a leisurely scenic drive to the Northern California coastline. Since we live in what seems like an endless sea of suburbia stretching for 60 miles between our house and San Francisco, it’s easy to forget that vast areas of rural land still exist just a short drive away. Given that California ranks third for the highest real estate prices in the country, it was both surprising and somewhat hope-inspiring to drive by grazing fields on the bluffs high above the ocean ridge. As I marveled at the breathtaking view and wondered if cattle even could appreciate it, my husband interrupted my thoughts by stating calmly, “I should’ve filled up the tank when we stopped for breakfast.”

Yes, again, I know it’s hard to believe, but there we were … no gas stations for about 60 miles, almost non-existent cell coverage, and only one way we could go unless we wanted to backtrack significantly. Our only goal for the day besides relaxing had been to drive over to the coast just north of the bay, take Route 1 up the coastline, and then eventually zigzag our way back through the mountains to wine country before heading home. Being the fraidy-cat I am, I instantly replied, “Well, I guess we’ll have to go back then.” Of course, I knew he would probably disagree with me. Sometimes I think he likes to see how far we can run on fumes just to watch me squirm a little bit. But this time was different. Once we began winding our way through this remote mountain pass, we would be past the point of no return. We’d have to go all the way through. There would be no alternative routes ahead. There was only one way through to the other side, and we were on it.

“Let’s go for it. I think we can make it,” he says with a playful wink. I would have preferred him to leave out the word “think” in that statement, even if it were a lie. As we began winding our way through towering trees and around sharp cliffs without guardrails, I tried not to think about the fuel situation. I tried to enjoy one of the curviest, narrow, and most beautiful roads I had ever been on. But one thought kept gnawing at the back of my mind… We were now past the point of no return. We had to see this through.

At one point, when we still had about 20 miles to go, I could feel panic creeping into my thoughts. The cool, moist ocean air was long gone, and we were driving through what was almost a high dessert. As the 100-degree heat bore down through the windshield, I suddenly recalled a story from the nightly news about some motorists out West getting stranded in the mountains, fighting off a mountain lion, and getting severely dehydrated before another car came along. Not good things to flash through your mind when you’re running on fumes. Of course, I instantly counted in my head how many bottles of water we had with us. I also started keeping track of how often we passed another vehicle. Or at least I tried. I think we encountered only two the entire trip.

Well, you get the idea, so I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. We made it. But barely. I think even my husband was getting a teensy bit nervous when he asked me several times if I had a cell signal and could I tell how far away the nearest gas station was. During that time, he remained incredibly serene and totally enamored with the route and the epic scenery. I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want him to know I was so distracted by the “what if’s.” When it was all over, I was relieved, of course, but in the weeks since I have also come to realize how much of life is about living beyond the point of no return. Each and every day. Not only the ones filled with obvious reasons to panic. Every second that ticks by of our lives cannot be repeated. There is no turning back. Ever. So why is it we so often live as though we can do things over and over? Like we always have another day, another year, to love someone as we should. To apologize. To make things right. To pursue our dreams.

I love how there’s story after story in the Bible to teach us how to live each day with an understanding that we’ve passed the point of no return. And if we have eyes to see them, there are stories happening all around us right now, each with their own remarkable lesson to learn. I don’t know why this surprises me, but I had to reach my own point of no return to understand the power and impact of praising God in the heat of spiritual battle. But just to be crystal clear about what I mean by praising God, I am not talking about simply having an attitude of praise, or giving Him prayers of thanksgiving, or even spending time on my knees telling Him how much I honor, love, and worship Him. Turning to God in our moments of need is often composed of spiritual disciplines that feel comfortable in our solitude. After all, being vulnerable is usually something we prefer to do alone. And prayer is powerful. Meditating on the Word is life-changing. But we often miss out on one of the most immediately effective weapons in our arsenal — singing praise to God. Yes, I mean singing out loud with all your might all by yourself. Anywhere you are. Any time. Ok, maybe not in the middle of the grocery store or the office break room, but just about any time you get the chance, especially when you are walking through the middle of a life storm, a major decision, or feel a spiritual attack.

More than spiritual icing on the cake after a good sermon or a spontaneous response to an outpouring of blessings, singing to God is a no-kidding, get-serious weapon to fight a myriad of spiritual problems within our hearts, in the world around us, and against the very forces of evil that want to destroy our souls. If you typically reserve out-loud singing for Sundays or would never dream of bursting into song all by yourself, which is how I have been most of my life, then you may not have experienced the miraculous power of singing praises in the midst of spiritual warfare. And if you’re like me, you may not have a good voice. But talent is completely irrelevant when it comes to the effective use of singing to fight your battles and bring joy to the heart of your Creator. For this, I am incredibly thankful. However, once you experience the miraculous results of singing during an onslaught of anger, suffering, frustration, pain, heartbreak, rejection, or injustice, and learn to wield the weapon effectively and consistently, you’ll never want to be without it again.

One of the best things I’ve ever read about fighting spiritual battles with praise is a sermon entitled “Ambushing Satan with the Power of Song,” delivered by John Piper back in 1985. With triumphant delivery and filled with powerful anecdotes both drawn from the Bible and everyday experiences, Piper explains why singing is so necessary for the power of God to be unleashed and how it works. “Singing is not merely a response to grace. Singing is power. I promise you [singing] will bring a new power to your fight of faith. Satan cannot bear the singing of the saints. You can drive him away with song. And don’t fall for his lie that you can’t sing. Everybody can sing. Not everybody can perform. Not everybody can lead. Not everybody can read music or even stay on the right keys. But everybody can sing to God.”

He goes on to explain that the Holy Spirit residing in believers is our “great hope against Satan” and that one of the primary ways we release the power of the Holy Spirit is through song, according to Ephesians 5:18b-19. “Be filled with the Holy Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord with all your heart.” Then, Piper tells four powerful stories — two from the Bible, one about missionary Jim Elliot, and one from Piper’s own ministry — which demonstrate the miraculous effect of singing. Here’s a quick recap of the stories Piper tells, but I strongly encourage you to listen to or read the full-length sermon.

Jehoshaphat — First up is Jehoshaphat, one of the Godly kings of Judah who began his 25-year reign in 870 BC. When his enemies rose up against him, Jehoshaphat and the people sought God’s help through prayer and singing, ultimately sending the musicians and vocalists to the frontline of the army rather than the soldiers. 2 Chronicles 20:22 tells us how the battle went. “And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.” This story also reminded me of Jericho from Joshua 6:20, and how the walls fell before the Israelites when they blew their trumpets.
Paul and Silas — Next, Piper recounts the story of Paul and Silas suffering in prison after being flogged and publicly humiliated. As Piper points out, most of us cry out in prayer when we are in pain or hit bottom, but rarely would we turn to something as simplistic or Pollyanna-ish as singing. Yet, according to Piper, Paul and Silas new the simplistic solution was the best one. They needed a display of God’s power and knew that He would inhabit the praises of His people. So they sang. And it worked. Acts 16:26 says, “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.”
Jim Elliot — Just before being killed for his faith, missionary Jim Elliot and his companions spent time singing praises to God as they prepared to take the Gospel to the Auca Indians of Ecuador. Like me, when you read that, you might immediately recoil, wondering why Piper would use that story as an example of the power of praise in spiritual warfare. It sounds like a complete failure to me. But Piper explains why Jim Elliot was triumphant through song this way: “All five of them were killed that afternoon. But they, too, were protected by God — protected from a fate far worse than death. They were protected from cowardice and unbelief and fear. And I think it would be fair to say — protected with song.” I think we could say the same for Horatio Spafford, who wrote the timeless hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” following the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire, which ignited a chain of events that utterly broke him financially and led to the death of his four living children. Song miraculously sustained Spafford and his wife through the most horrendous seasons of grief and loss.
A Demon-Possessed Woman — Many of us have never knowingly encountered a person possessed by evil spirits. We read about such things in the Bible and wonder how it could be any more than a riveting movie plot in today’s world. But Piper includes a personal experience in his sermon that is both stunning and incredibly educational. As a pastor, he has counseled people struggling with all kinds of battles, but in this case, he had been called by a group of believers trying to help a woman displaying all the characteristics of possession. As hours and hours pass, the group reads scripture to her and prays for her. She grows ever more violent, but doesn’t seem to make any real progress toward healing. Then, everything changed in a split second with the addition of song. Here is how Piper tells it: “At one point, about one in the morning, when the conflict rose to a fever pitch between the Word of God and the satanic force in this woman, someone in the group began to sing. It was one of our familiar worship songs. We sang it again and again and the Lord gave us new words for it each time. The effect on her was dramatic. She began to tremble and threaten us if we didn’t stop. Then she threw herself on the floor and screamed for Satan not to leave her. She went into convulsions and then went limp. When she came to, she remembered nothing of what happened and was willing to read Scripture and pray.” Singing was an instrument in this woman’s healing and the believers’ fight against Satan for her life.

Maybe the idea of singing praises sounds too simplistic to you. Honestly, it kind of did for me too. Sure, I’ve experienced a fresh outpouring of joy and strength when I’ve spent time praising God, either at church, or at home, or singing aloud in my car where no one will suffer from my off-key strains. But until recently, I hadn’t tried singing when I was angry or bewildered. I don’t know about you, but singing is absolutely the last thing I feel like doing when I’m angry or discouraged. But after a series of one frustrating or disappointing situation after another, I felt as though I was at the point of no return. Then the thought occurred to me to get angry — righteously angry, that is — at the source of all the trouble. Yes, prayer, speaking the Word, fasting, and saying the name of Jesus are all critical components in defeating Satan, but song is sometimes the very ingredient — when added to all the others — that seems to take our defense to the stratosphere. Why on earth would something that on the surface seems like the antithesis of strength and force be so powerful? How does praise work? According to Piper, the praises of God’s people lifted up to the throne of the King throws the enemy into confusion. It happened with Jehoshaphat and with the demon-possessed woman. I’ve always believed in the necessity to be a warrior in the fight against Satan, but it’s never been as real, or as visceral, as it is now.

This week’s five-day devotional guide, which is included at the bottom of the blog post, is a little bit different than I normally provide. But if you’re ready to do some battle through song, then I encourage you to check it out. You may not have time to do all of it, nor may you be ready to try everything it suggests, but here’s one thing I know beyond a shadow of a doubt, you’ll come out of whatever you try in a better place spiritually than before you started.

Five-Day Devotional Guide For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week. Before you begin reading the passage for each day, spend some time asking God to open your heart to His truth and hearing His voice.

Day 1 - Watch this inspiring three-minute video from Desiring God which is based on the original sermon by John Piper. Then after spending time in prayer, sing your favorite praise chorus or hymn to God.
Day 2 - Listen to a few songs you know from this playlist and sing along as the Holy Spirit leads you. Following your time of worship, read Psalm 5:11 and ask God to keep the power of praise alive in your heart throughout the day.
Day 3 - Revisit the story from Joshua 6 about Jericho’s walls falling and then journal about the walls you need to fall and why. Ask God to give you a song in your heart to sing until the walls fall, whether it’s hours, days, or weeks from now. This song from the playlist on Day 1 will encourage you.
Day 4 - Write down your greatest fear, whether or not it’s something that’s actually interfering with your life right now. Read Zephaniah 3:17, then Listen to the song “You Make Me Brave” from the playlist. In that spirit of worship, go to the Lord in prayer.
Day 5 - Revisit the story of Paul and Silas in jail from Acts 16. What is remarkable about their ordeal and what role did praising God play in helping them? Ask God to help you turn to Him in song more often. Jot down any situation that comes to your mind that needs the power of praise. Spend time in prayer asking God to help you react in praise rather than anger, frustration, guilt, shame, or bewilderment.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts on this post! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

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How to Choose joy when You Don't Feel Like It

8/28/2019

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How to choose joy even when you don't feel like it

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If you’ve seen the movie Unbroken or read the book of the same name, you may recall a scene near the beginning where the young main character, Louie Zamperini, is training for his school’s track team to ward off the constant bullying and teasing by his classmates. In the beginning, he is riddled with self-doubt and floundering under the weight of discouragement. Louie didn’t feel like competing. Initially, he wasn’t motivated to take the actions necessary to persevere in extenuating circumstances. Seeing that his mental state of mind was going to kill his physical ability to perform, his older brother Pete gives him a pep talk, which concludes with this encouragement: “If you can take it, you can make it. Louie, a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.”

One of the hardest things to do is feel something that you don’t, or to act a certain way when you have no motivation to do so. Yet, when we are depleted of joy and feeling down, stepping out on faith to express joy seems as hard as walking off a cliff and expecting God to supply a footbridge miraculously. Yet, as believers, that’s exactly what we’re called to do. Rejoice in suffering. Delight in God in all circumstances. Worship Him even when we don’t understand. Like Pete’s encouragement to Louie, Scripture essentially tells us to do something even when we don’t feel like it for the hope of victory down the road. But how on earth does God expect us to obey Him and experience joy in these types of situations? Are we supposed to be fake? Is God calling us to pretend? Well, yes and no. Now before you quit reading, I’m not at all saying that you should be inauthentic in your faith or actions or be disingenuous in any way with God. After all, last week I wrote about the topic of authenticity and how important it is for us to be real with ourselves, God, and others. But the old expression, “Fake it until you make it,” has some merit when applied the Biblical way. Unbroken is based on a true story, so kudos to Pete Zamperini for changing just one letter of a phrase that had already been around a long time and turning it into a battle cry that would ring in his little brother’s ears throughout years of his brutal hardship during World War 2.

We often choose NOT to feel the joy God is offering us because we disagree with God. We disagree with the circumstances He is allowing us to go through. And while we certainly don't want to be phony — like the dirty cups Jesus called the Pharisees in Luke 11:39, we also don't want to wait until we feel the internal desire to obey because having a joyless heart is not any way to live. It really comes down to acting on what God asks us to do because we love Him, whether we feel like showing that love or not. Whether we agree with Him or not.

In this fascinating Psychology Today article, compelling research proves that our behaviors can dramatically change our emotions. “Many people assume that the link between emotion and behavior is one-way: Emotions shape behavior. You love him, therefore you kiss him. You hate him, therefore you hit him. This view is incorrect. In fact, the relationship is reciprocal. Much of the time, behavior actually shapes emotion,” said the article’s author Noam Shpancer, Ph.D. “Recent research in clinical psychology has shown that the fastest way to change an emotion is to change the behavior attached to it.” And he closes the article with this straightforward advice: “The shortest, most reliable way to change how you're feeling is to change what you're doing.”

As I read the rest of the article, it hit me that my intrinsic ability to feel joy or feel love for God is mainly grounded in biology and not spirit. We are also far more conscious of our human instincts and subsequent reactions, which is why the article points out that we’re all walking through life mostly based on feeling-driven assumptions versus intentional actions. How can we help it? After all, it’s what feels right… instinctual even. But Jesus came to show us how to live above feeling-driven human instincts. In stark contrast, He came to show us how to move beyond mere reactionary existence in this turbulent and challenging journey. He boldly declared that we are to walk in the Spirit, intentionally pursuing and experiencing an abundant life marked by the fruits of our love and trust in God. Scripture outlined a clear path to real and lasting joy long before psychologists had proof that behaviors can produce or change feelings, but it’s so satisfying to see empirical evidence of these invisible truths.

Take, for example, Sara Frankl, who wrote the book Choose Joy: Finding Hope and Purpose When Life Hurts as a response to living with a terminal illness. She said, “He (God) fixes the problem when I ask Him to fix me. I believe He can do anything. I think He can physically heal me, I think He can stop a tornado and halt a flood. But I think what is most powerful is when He lets natural things happen and lets people use their free will, and at the same time fixes my heart and spirit to handle them.” God didn’t heal Sara. But has used Sara’s story to heal countless hurting hearts around the world. I agree with her, what is most potent is the display of God’s power through our tragedies and weaknesses.

As someone struggling to delight in the Lord right now, although I realize things will eventually get better with my current situation, I am learning not to pin my joy to a future hope of feeling better. Clearly, Sara learned that lesson as well. As her health deteriorated, her joy never wavered because it was pinned to something unchanging. Unlike Sara, I am just now realizing how often I have pinned my hopes to that which is likely to change. When times get tough, I have found joy more often than not by visualizing a better future. While there’s nothing wrong with imagining things getting better and drawing encouragement from that, God has been revealing to me how incredibly self-centered it is for me to rely on that kind of hope so heavily. He’s also been changing my perspective to see that I have often depended on my own natural bent toward optimism to get me through the hard times. So here I am learning what it means to be joyful in an entirely new way. And I feel like a kid getting on a bicycle for the first time. It’s a bit exhilarating, but also incredibly scary and awkward. And frankly, I am not any good at it. Just as I’ve never been athletically inclined, so I’m discovering that despite my generally cheery disposition, a day-to-day reliance on Spirit-generated joy is a learned behavior that takes careful nurturing and consistent implementation.

While I believe the time is coming once again when I will actually feel great joy bubbling up and overflowing spontaneously, I am now just starting to understand what it means when Paul says in Romans 15:13 (The Passion Translation), “Now may God, the inspiration and fountain of hope, fill you to overflowing with uncontainable joy and perfect peace as you trust in Him. And may the power of the Holy Spirit continually surround your life with His super-abundance until you radiate with hope!” Yes, it is God’s responsibility to fill us, but notice in that verse that there are actions required on our part. It says, “As you trust in Him.” That’s the first behavior we must exhibit. We must choose to trust. Then, as the infilling of joy and peace comes, we are responsible to “radiate hope.” God’s actions are in partnership with ours, and that often means we have to get out of His way and let go of our own needs for comfort, agendas, expectations, and even our natural inclinations. All of which feels awkward and uncomfortable. But just like learning to ride a bike, something almost mystical happens when we finally get the hang of it. The untrained awkwardness gradually fades into smooth second nature, so much so we no longer think about balancing. We are no longer fearful of riding fast. We no longer fumble around with the gears. And suddenly, almost before we realize it, we’re simply enjoying the ride.

That’s what I think Jesus had in mind when He said in Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message version), “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” There’s no question it takes great effort to obey God when our feelings and flesh are screaming the opposite. But Jesus promises us that when we choose — when we take action despite our desires or inclinations — He will teach us the second nature of living through the power of His Spirit and not by the flesh.

All of this sounds great of course, but if you’re like me, then you’re looking up at heaven in the middle of whatever life has dealt you and asking, “Okay, I believe you, God. But how? How do I actually make myself choose joy when I feel anything but that? I understand that it comes through the power of your Spirit alive in me, but how do I even get on the bicycle when I don’t even feel like riding right now?”

Well, when the motivation isn’t welling up inside, then I say let’s go get some. Focusing on my current situation, its litany of exhausting details, worries, and unknowns, is certainly not going to spur me to any healthy actions. Indeed, I’d rather wallow in complacency on the couch of idleness with a spoonful of unhealthy comfort. However, I am beginning to discover that although my current feelings don’t motivate me to choose joy, when I focus on the compelling reasons to do so in spite of my emotional state, something remarkable happens. Rather than reacting to the situation with discouragement, I start to feel a spark of determination based on the compelling reasons themselves and not the circumstances. I think the compelling reasons to choose joy will vary wildly from person to person, but in case it helps someone, I thought I’d throw out a few that are stirring up newfound motivation in me. Now, I’m not feeling like Rocky at the top of the steps of City Hall or anything, but these thoughts are helping me take the first action required from Romans 15:13.

Compelling reason number one: do it for the sake of love. I know this sounds like a cop-out. Mushy even. But if you’ve told Jesus that you love Him, then make every endeavor to be the man or woman who keeps her word. Try this. Use your imagination to picture yourself sitting on a park bench somewhere. Now envision yourself staring at people doing something beautiful, like an elderly couple walking hand-in-hand in front of a fiery sunset or a group of little kids giggling as they chase each other around a jungle gym. Whatever whispers to your soul of pure, undefiled beauty. As you’re immersed in the site of something utterly perfect, imagine Jesus walking up and sitting down beside you. Don’t worry about what He looks like or what He’s wearing. Just focus on His presence. Allow yourself to sit there wordlessly with Him and gaze at the sight before you. Feel the unforced rhythms of grace as you effortlessly relax into the moment. You’re now observing the most beautiful display of humanity you can imagine with the most amazing person in the universe. And then He gently and tenderly asks you the same thing He did of Peter in John 21, “Do you love me?” Turn and look at Jesus full in the face and see if you don’t find the motivation to choose joy out of pure love for Him and unconditional love for many hurting people around you who will only see Jesus if you’re willing to let Him shine through you. (To make it easier, click the play button at the top of this post to listen to the audio version of this message.)

Compelling reason number two: don’t let evil win. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So I hate to lose. Who doesn’t? But unlike playing cribbage with my father-in-law, I am promised a victory in Christ against an adversary who has made it his life mission to make me miserable. Each time I don’t choose joy, Satan wins a skirmish. I want to be a victor. I want to honor the One who has made me a champion. I will choose joy, even though it is not natural or logical. I will fight for joy by taking the actions that lead my heart to joy.

Compelling reason number three: focus on eternal hope rather than temporary relief. If we return to the story of Louie Zamperini once more, we’re reminded that fixing our hope on something unshakable changes our perspective and keeps us motivated. When Louie is stranded at sea with his fellow soldiers, he turns to God instead of dwelling on his circumstances. This helped him view even the smallest things as blessings, versus dwelling on every detail of their life-depleting conditions. Hope birthed endurance, and endurance helped him survive.

The reasons that motivate you to choose joy even when you don’t feel like it may be different than mine. I expect mine will vary from time to time, depending on the cause of my struggles, but one thing remains sure for either of us — we are 100% incapable of giving up… throwing in the towel… taking our ball and going home… if we are willing to make ourselves do what the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk did following a series of tragedies in Israel — he rejoiced. I’ll close with his words from Habakkuk 3:17-19. Let them wash over you, soothe your bitterness and pain, and trickle down into the depths of your heart and soul today. As you read them, go back to seeing yourself in the park with Jesus. Say these words to Him and then let Him respond to you. “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer's; He makes me tread on my high places.” Amen.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

Five-Day Devotional Guide for Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week. Before you begin reading the passage for each day, spend some time asking God to open your heart to His truth and hearing His voice.
Day 1 - I didn’t want to write about joy this week. I seriously questioned whether or not I could even be authentic with the words if I did. But something within me felt so desperate for it, I had no choice but to ask God to lay words on my heart, even if I didn’t like them or feel them. Have you ever felt that way with God about something you need or feel deprived of? Have you humbled yourself and asked Him to give you what He knows you need instead? Read the words of Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message Version, The Passion Translation, and then in two more literal versions like the English Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible. Write down what you sense God whispering to your heart.
Day 2 - Using your imagination as a part of your daily quiet time with Jesus can be a very effective way to help you focus and listen to His voice. Read Philippians 2:1-18. Pick one verse resonates with you the most and then visualize hearing it from Jesus Himself as you sit together in a peaceful place.
Day 3 - When we pin our hopes to the unshakeable Rock who is God, we are less likely to be swayed or spiritually damaged by our circumstances. In fact, just the opposite happens, we will grow stronger and closer to Jesus every day. Read Matthew 7:24-27 and James 1:6. Ask the Holy Spirit to tell you what to do to get stronger in Christ.
Day 4 - Sometimes we fabricate joy by seeking comfort and happiness in things versus God Himself. Read these two passages — Psalm 42:1-3 and Romans 14:17 — and then pray them back to God. Ask Him to show you anything that is bringing you more comfort and joy than He does.
Day 5 - Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love others. Read these four Scripture passages and ask the Holy Spirit to help you love with a greater capacity than you ever have before. Spend some time writing down any barriers that might be standing in the way of love right now and then ask Jesus to help you remove them one by one.

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Does God Want you to Be a Minimalist?

8/7/2019

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From the day you were born, you started collecting stuff that will be with you for the rest of your life. Indeed, stuff was already waiting for you in your room before you even came home from the hospital. There were the super practical things, of course, some of which would come and go within hours (like the diapers) and others that would linger for years until you grew out of them. And then there were the completely non-practical items. These were usually adorable and capable of generating an “Awwwww, how cute,” comment in the most high-pitched tone. Some of them were useless, but entirely sentimental icons of your earliest days, and they might still be tucked away in a box in the furthest corners of your attic or basement, no matter how old you are. If keeping some of your childhood memories isn’t your thing, then I am sure something else is. It may be a weakness for clothes, gadgets, knick-knacks, or books. Even artwork, pantry items, tools, office supplies, or small appliances can mound up through the years.

For most people, too much stuff of some kind in their closets, drawers, or garages is making them feel smothered, constricted, overwhelmed, busy, depressed, or frustrated on some level, whether it be occasionally troublesome or incredibly debilitating. We all exist somewhere on the continuum between minimalism and hoarding. But where does God want us to be? Is joining the minimalism movement, led by the likes of Marie Kondo and Clea Shearer, any different from trying out the latest fad diet to shrink our expanding waistlines? We try them out, only to find ourselves struggling again once we inevitably diverge from the plan. I found myself asking these questions and many similar ones over the last several months of packing, moving, and trying to unpack. Notice I used the word “trying” regarding settling into my new home. Just like getting a huge shock when you step on the scale for the first time in five months (yep, I have that problem too!), I have been both surprised and dismayed at how little storage capacity is available in my house. Having too much stuff combined with an impressive lack of storage options has created the perfect storm of clutter, disorganization, and overwhelm in almost every room.

For those of you who know me, the inability to unpack quickly, organize, and enjoy clutter-free tidiness, is driving me crazy. Bonkers. Nuts. Attach any word to it that makes you picture a woman with her hair on fire, and you’ll understand my state of mind. What’s more, I’m one of those writers who can’t even concentrate on crafting a single sentence until my desk area complies to my own very unorthodox version of feng shui. While I recognize that I am clearly displaying inherited OCD tendencies right now, and I probably need to break into a rendition of a saccharine Disney tune like Hakuna Matata or Let It Go, the truth of the matter still needs to be addressed. I must purge. Purge even more now than I did when I packed up everything. But again, questions come to my mind. Do I purge only enough to ease the madness, or should I take it much further and clear out everything but real necessities? And speaking of essentials, how is that really defined in my life? What is truly necessary, versus what makes life a bit more comfortable, versus what is outright indulgence or laziness? Did God lead my husband and I to this home in order to spur me toward adopting a more minimalistic lifestyle, or is being at some other point on the continuum of stewardship acceptable to Him?

Perhaps you’ve also wondered how much stuff God wants His followers to have. And I am not just talking about the stuff that actually costs money. Most of the faith-driven Christian books, blog posts, and sermons surrounding this topic tend to focus only on the stewardship component of this problem. As a result, I think many believers end up feeling justified in hanging onto a lot of stuff through the years as long as they are honoring God with their financial giving through regular tithing and offerings. After all, as far as I know, there’s no verse in the Bible that says you shouldn’t keep your first-grade finger painting masterpiece or that special dress that you wore to your Sweet 16 party (um, that would be me.) Or how about we head into even more sensitive territory? What would the Bible guide us to do with highly useful items that haven’t been used in a decade? What if we will need them again for some unpredictable project or event in the future? If we needed something once, doesn’t it stand to reason that we will need it again? And wouldn’t God want us to tuck it away in the back of the shed or closet instead of spending money on a new one should the need ever arise again? That last example is the toughest one of all, isn’t it? Maybe that expensive tool will come in handy again. Or perhaps the outfit you bought for that black tie wedding ten years ago might come back in style.

While Jesus didn’t talk specifically about things like that, He did make one truth repeatedly clear during His time with the disciples. He asks us to remove anything from our lives that prevents — and that means even slightly hinders — us from fully and completely following Him. Furthermore, He asks us to live without fear or wondering how our needs might be met in the future. Therefore, I believe we can firmly conclude that Jesus wants us to let go of anything that might get in the way of us drawing closer to Him, experiencing His goodness, obeying His direction and calling for our lives, or dwelling in the states of contentment and mental freedom. While this truth has different ramifications for each unique individual, the scriptures that support the idea of living with an unencumbered heart are uncompromising. Beyond that, it’s up to each of us to prayerfully seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance regarding the boundaries needed in our lives. As I have been seeking God’s instruction in my own self-made chaos, here are a few of the Bible verses He’s brought to my attention in recent weeks.

Matthew 5:29 says, “So if your eye — even your good eye —causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Ouch. Can you even believe I am starting with that verse? I actually tried not to, but the Holy Spirit kept bugging me about it. Here’s why. There is nothing I have in my boxes of stuff, not even my most beloved wedding memorabilia, that is as important as my eyesight. I don’t think any of us would be willing to lose an eye over a possession. And here Jesus is using an extreme example to indicate the kind of extreme love we are to have for God. So even something useful or of the greatest value to us must take second place to serving and loving our Heavenly Father. I love how the verse includes the phrase, “even your good eye,” as if a person would want to give up either eye at all! But yet, that’s how some of us approach sacrificing our stuff in order to follow God. We prioritize it for Him — as if we have the right to do that. We’ll give up that thing, but not the best or the dearest thing. In this way, the Word makes it clear that even valuable, cherished, or useful things sometimes need to be sacrificed for the sake of obedience to — and love for — God. So if God calls you to downsize in order to fulfill your calling, then even something you might — just maybe — need again, probably needs to go. And the next verse offers assurance that if you need it again someday, He’ll provide it when the time comes.

Matthew 6:33-34 is Jesus’ end to all of our arguments about retaining things we don’t need or fretting about needing things we’ve let go of under the guidance of His Spirit. “So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from Him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” I’m not planning on throwing out my box of wedding memories… at least not right now. There are plenty of other things the Holy Spirit seems to be leading me to let go of first. And what He might be asking you to release may be different now than it will be next year or next decade. And the flip side of that is true as well. You may be tempted to buy something that seems very reasonable right now that God knows will only be a hindrance later. So when the Spirit whispers to you with conviction or direction, it’s far better to obey and trust that your emotional, physical, or financial needs will be taken care of the way He knows is best for us.

In Mark 10:17-31, a prominent rich young man approaches Jesus and asks how he can live forever. When he explains that he has followed all the commandments and lived in obedience to God, verses 21-22 recount Jesus’ reply. “Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. ‘There is still one thing you haven’t done,’ He told him. ‘Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’” While this story in the Gospels is often used to illustrate our willingness to surrender financial assets, the implication is far more comprehensive. Jesus wanted the young man’s whole heart, and He could see that this prominent and accomplished guy was far more in love with his belongings and his stature than he was with God. When our accumulation of stuff encroaches on any aspect of our ability to love and serve God, then we are like the wealthy young man. Our hearts are clinging to our memories, treasures, gadgets, and clothes more than Him. So if I have so much stuff I can’t create a small, non-distracting space in my house to be alone with Jesus in prayer, read the Word, and worship Him, then something’s gotta go. If I own too many “toys” and their maintenance or use prevents me from serving others, then something’s gotta go. Jesus makes it that clear. That simple.

The apostle Paul said it this way in Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” We don’t like to think of our stuff as sin. It makes us feel shameful. And shame causes us to feel defeated. It makes us feel like not bothering to try. And that’s right where Satan wants us. Shame makes us ineffective for Jesus. Yes, having a bunch of stuff can chain us down and keeps us from being free to go wherever and do whatever God asks us to do. But having shame over our stuff increases the weight upon our shoulders to an unbearable level. And Satan simply loves that. Not only are we weighed down, but we are also unmotivated and bewildered. But as Paul says, Jesus ran the race to demolish our strongholds of sin and shame. So no matter how much stuff I have or any stigma associated with it was buried with Christ, enabling me to run free in His strength and power. That’s how God sees me. Through the power of the cross. And that’s how He sees you too. All He asks is that we surrender our hearts, which means that He has the freedom to clear them out when necessary. Just like our houses, we have a tendency to fill up the rooms of our heart with things that don’t belong there. And everything in our houses first appeared as a desire in our hearts. Nothing shows up in our physical world until we’ve first acquired it in our hearts and minds.

A huge pile of stuff in my bedroom is about to be loaded into bags for donation. Some of the items have been in my closet for more than a decade. Some of the items are fairly new but should’ve never been purchased in the first place. For many different reasons, all of them were taking up space in my heart that wasn’t intended for them. I don’t know what else the Holy Spirit will bring to my attention for elimination in the days and weeks ahead, nor could I ever tell you what things in your life might need to go. But this I do know beyond a shadow of a doubt: with each step of surrender and obedience, Jesus is waiting to usher both of us into a greater depth of love and willingness to serve than we’ve ever known before.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

Five-Day Devotional Guide for Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week. Before you begin reading the passage for each day, spend some time asking God to open your heart to His truth and hearing His voice.
Day 1 - Read Matthew 6:25-34 in at least 3 different versions of the Bible. Spend time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you anything (physical, emotional, societal) that you are hanging onto or long to have that might be creating a byproduct of worry, fear, or greed in your life. Write down anything He brings to your mind and commit to seeking God’s forgiveness and direction in those areas.
Day 2 - Go back to the list you made yesterday and spend time in prayer. Read 1 Timothy 6:6–8 and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what areas of discontentment exist in your life.
Day 3 - Sometimes contentment has nothing to do with material possessions or physical comfort, but rather our emotional or societal desires. We might be bitter over a lost relationship, promotion at work, or a wrong that someone committed against us. Even our state of health can tempt us to long for what we don’t have. Read Philippians 4:10-13 and ask God to reveal any emotions or longings in your heart that are leading to discontentment or mistrust of Him.
Day 4 - When life doesn’t seem fair, we might resort to unconsciously accumulating things or pursuing activities for the wrong reasons. The things or activities themselves may not be sinful, but if they are not God’s best for us, then He wants eliminate the root causes of those errant desires within us. Read Psalm 139:-23-24 and pray it back to God.
Day 5 - Read 1 Chronicles 29:11. Spend time today celebrating all the good things in your life that God has blessed you with, including your special memories, possessions, and most valuable relationships. Give God all the honor and glory for each one. Write down a few for future encouragement.

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Never a Dull Moment with God

6/19/2019

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One of my favorite songs during my college years was “The Great Adventure,” by Steven Curtis Chapman. Looking back on it now, the western-themed music video filled with galloping horses and a leather-vest wearing Steven with big floppy hair seems so over the top and cliched, but back then — oh, that was cutting edge for contemporary Christian music. Somehow, though, despite it’s dated sound and the fact that I haven’t listened to it in ages, it came roaring back into my head today, playing over and over in my mind and reminding me to celebrate its central message: a life spent following God is never dull… never meaningless… and always filled with something new around the corner.

If you’re not familiar with the lyrics, the chorus challenges us to saddle up our horses, cause we have a trail to blaze into the wild blue yonder of God’s amazing grace. But my favorite lines are found in the bridge:
We'll travel on, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey
That the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far
Beyond our wildest dreams

If you want to join me in the fun and don’t mind falling prey to its catchy chorus becoming an earworm in your mind for the rest of the day, then check out this fresh spin (watch on YouTube) on the song with Steven and guest Bart Millard of MercyMe fame.

This song came galloping back to me — sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun — this week as my husband and I reached a box-packing, emotionally-charged crescendo in preparing to make a cross-country move from Maine to California. For many of my regular readers and listeners, you know that my year began with the passing of my beloved Dad, followed by the realization that God was calling us to go west. So I guess in some cheesy way, the expansive Rocky Mountain scenes of the 1992 video seem to fit with my outlook right now. I can choose to look at this move as the end of a chapter I don’t want to be over, or I can see it as a new beginning, trusting that God has purpose and joy waiting for us wherever He plants us.

There is not enough space here to tell you how deeply rooted we are in Maine with my family, the sweetest friendships, a church body with a mission we love, and a home we built ourselves. There’s no question that leaving is hard. Okay, beyond hard. I can’t even describe it, despite my propensity for wordiness. But this God has made abundantly evident: when He calls you to a new beginning, He always brings His peace and boldly blazes a trail. Like any challenging trail through unknown, mountainous territory, you may not see any further ahead than the next marker on a tree, but you can clearly see His hand at work around you. At times, you may also be exhausted, overwhelmed, and uncomfortable. But no matter how you feel, you’ll still sense His peace and presence. As Ney Bailey says in one of my favorite books, Faith is Not a Feeling, “You and I can either grow accustomed to listening to our feelings, thoughts, and circumstances, letting them control us, or we can be in the habit of taking God at His word despite our feelings and life experiences. We need to choose with our wills to believe that His Word is truer than our feelings.”

Since I will be packing up my office next week and will become like a nomad for the first half of July, today is my last blog post from the great state of Maine. So before the next adventure officially kicks off with a moving van carrying upwards of 200 color-coded and cataloged boxes (yes, I am that type of person), I wanted to share five of the lessons God has been teaching me or reinforcing with me during this prolonged season of major upheavals. Perhaps a few of them will also encourage you during your own seasons of change, doubt, or waiting. While I won’t be able to produce new blog posts or podcast episodes for the next three weeks, I am sure God will be filling my mind with plenty of ideas for new messages during the many days of driving through America’s heartland. So I am already looking forward to being back with you starting July 17th from sunny Northern California.

1. God is the provider of the feast, not unsatisfying snacks. Another way to say it is: God always brings us what’s best and He longs for us to never settle or take shortcuts to get second best. Throughout Scripture we see God as the founder of the feast, always offering His children the best when they choose Him. In John 2, Jesus performs His first miracle, which was turning water to wine at a wedding feast. Upon tasting it, the banquet manager exclaims in verse 10, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” What God has been speaking to me is that His best is worth waiting for, and when He does bring His plans to fruition, they will be far more than I could’ve imagined if I wait on Him and trust Him. Earlier in this process, I found myself praying for the equivalent of snack — just a taste of God’s glory — when what He had in mind was far more complete than I would’ve dared hope for.

2. God doesn’t need human cooperation to bring about His will. We simply can’t help thinking more of ourselves than we should. After all, we all live with the day-to-day disappointment of other people letting us down, frustrating us, or choosing the wrong path. So when people don’t seem to be acting the way we think they should in order to align with what God has planned, we may assume that we misunderstood God or that He will have to change His plans due to human misbehavior. But just as God both hardened and then softened the heart of Pharoah (in Exodus 11:10 and 12:30-32), we can rest assured that if God wants something to happen, it will. And if we trust Him to bring it about His way and in His timing, then we get the thrill of watching His handiwork unfold.

3. God gives us the chance to participate in miracles. Perhaps one of the saddest situations is when you or I try to wade through the changes of life alone. But just as Jesus included the disciples in the miracles He performed, so we should include others around us in both the work God is calling us to do and the decisions we need to make. We do this through prayer. And when we don’t ask others to cover us in prayer over big decisions, changes, struggles, and grief, then we rob them of the chance to participate in God’s miracles. When a close-knit group of believers spends days, months, or even years supporting someone going through a hard season, there is not only indescribable joy for each victory along the way, no matter how small, there is also an incredible amount of growth in the lives of every group member as they intimately witness the hand of God in all the details. In Luke 15:8-10, Jesus tells the parable about a woman losing a coin and then celebrating with all her friends once it is found. James 5:16 urges believers to pray for one another. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” And Jesus told the disciples in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.”

4. God never contradicts Himself. When a turbulent time engulfs our lives, God promises to work it out for good. But Satan is also working hard to divert us from God’s best or to get us to throw in the towel. Sometimes the evil tactics he tries on us are disguised in a veneer of goodness or practical advice. When my husband and I found a home we liked in California, after praying about it, we made a market-appropriate offer to the owners. They rejected our offer. Not once, but four times. This went on for several agonizing weeks, and all the while we were nearing our moving date without a place to live. With each offer, we came up a little more money until we had reached the maximum number God had laid on our hearts. As God’s Word calls us to be good stewards of the resources He gives us, we knew He didn’t want us to go any higher even though we could’ve found a way to do so. He had given us a line in the sand, regardless of how close the deal seemed. Many people said we shouldn’t let such a small amount deter us from a home we really liked. I’d like to tell you that sticking to our guns was a piece of cake, but as with any situation that we have the power to either solve on our own, or let the Lord handle in His own way, it was very difficult to remain firm. Each time I spent time in prayer, I simply heard, “Wait.” God impressed the same thought on my husband. Eventually, both sides reached a stalemate and we walked away from the property, believing that if God wanted us there, He would’ve made it work at the number He gave us. Several days after we let it go, our realtor called to tell us that the sellers had a change of heart and would indeed accept our offer and terms if we were still ready to commit. It’s hard not to fight for what you want. It’s hard to resist making things happen yourself when it seems like they fit with God’s plans. But if any part of the process contradicts a principle or a promise from Scripture — even if the outcome would be the same — then God wants us to be still and let Him take care of it. Exodus 14:14 says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Some versions use the word “silent” and others use the word “calm,” but all of them apply when all you want to do is squirm, yell, run, or fret.

5. God brings order to chaos, both in circumstances and most importantly in our hearts. This lesson has been especially hard for me to learn and it might be for you as well. 1 Corinthians 14:33 tells us that God desires order versus confusion or chaos. But clearly He allows chaos to occur in our lives from time to time. Just look at the story of Peter in Matthew 14:22-33 walking on the water toward Jesus. He stepped out of the boat among the chaotic waves and wind to find himself rising above it all. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he walked unharmed through the continuing storm. But the moment he became aware of his precarious surroundings and began focusing on his impending doom, he sank down. When Peter’s focus was on Jesus, the storm in his heart was calmed. And, of course, we are no different. Jesus calls us to just let the circumstances around us simply be as they are. Through the Holy Spirit, He empowers us to say with conviction, “Nothing around me matters more than Who’s in front of me.” It’s with this vision that we will see God’s hand working to bring order out of the chaos and show us a clear, strong lifeline to safety. In verse 32, Jesus didn’t calm the seas until the disciples placed their trust in Him. Once the work in their hearts was done, God worked to reveal a miracle. “And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

Over the past six months, God has been teaching and revealing so much more to me than these five lessons, but since I am only beginning to grasp their meaning and understand the depth of their impact, I’ll save the rest of them for future blog posts. In the meantime, I hope you’re encouraged in your own seasons of change, doubt, waiting, fear, and loss. There is no storm God doesn’t have a plan to use for His glory. There is no problem you face in which He won’t walk beside you and give you peace. There is no dull moment in any life lived in order to grow closer to Jesus. You may think that nothing is happening. It may seem as though nothing is changing or that nothing ever seems to go in your favor. But you must believe that those perspectives are your own, and not God’s. There is nothing that is not already known by Him. There is nothing that remains unsolved in His future. And so, He asks you and me to rest in the waiting knowing that every moment of our lives can be useful to Him. Every situation can be redeemed… in His timeframe, not ours. Finally, there’s always a new beginning. And it often comes in the darkest hours before the dawn. But that’s exactly when you can let God’s light shine the brightest in your life. Others will look at you and may remark on the darkness you’re facing, but if your eyes remain on Jesus, then the only thing everyone else will be able to talk about is Him.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

5-Day Devotional Guide For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling

God’s Adventure Spotify Playlist - Created just for this message, this music playlist will fuel your passion for God’s adventure and encourage you during times of change. (Yes, you can listen to the playlist for no charge when you sign up for a FREE account!)
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week.
While Glimmers is on vacation for the next 3 weeks, if you need a daily devotional, I encourage you to check out the free plans in the YouVersion app or John Piper’s online daily devotional.

Day 1 - God is the provider of the feast, not unsatisfying snacks. Read Philippians 4:19 and Ephesians 3:20 several times in a few different versions. When have you settled for second best in the past? Why? What is it that you are currently longing for Him to provide? Ask Him to show you any ways in which you are impatient in waiting for His best. Pray and ask Him to give you discernment in seeking only His best and not counterfeits or shortcuts.
Day 2 - God doesn’t need human cooperation to bring about His will. Read Acts 17:24-25, 1 Chronicles 29:11, and Psalm 115:3. How does knowing the God is sovereign over everything bring you comfort when it comes to replying on other people for important things in your life? Spend time in prayer asking God to reassure your heart of His love and control over your life.
Day 3 - God gives us the chance to participate in miracles. Read Matthew 28:18-20 and 1 Peter 4:11. What does this passage tell you about God’s invitation to us to participate in His work and plans?
Day 4 - God never contradicts Himself. Read Hebrews 6:16-20 and Numbers 23:19. In what ways have you wondered about apparent contradictions concerning God, the Bible, or His control over your life? Meditate on these Scriptures and pray them back to Him. Consider memorizing them and repeating them to yourself during times of doubt.
Day 5 - God brings order to chaos, both in circumstances and most importantly in our hearts. Read Joshua 1:9, John 14:27, 1 Corinthians 14:33, and Psalm 37:23. Whichever verse spoke the most to you, spend time reflecting on how it speaks to your heart and circumstances. Then pray it back to God and ask Him to search your heart and speak to you.

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Too Much of a Good Thing = Not Enough Jesus

6/12/2019

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Too Much of A Good Thing Equals Not Enough Jesus

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Human history is filled with powerful stories about what happens when an individual or a group of people hit their “enough is enough” moment. Usually, it happens after a long time of enduring the consequences of too much of a good thing. In other words, something that was once perceived as a good thing — whether it actually was or not — goes really south and eventually reaches the boiling point. It is that point at which change is sparked…when the powder keg of freedom is finally lit. While there are things, habits, or relationships that may not be good for us from the start, the self-induced chains that sneak up on us most often are those things that once had harmless or even beneficial beginnings.

I often marvel at how many times I’ve had to reach the enough-is-enough point with issues in life. I used to believe that I would eventually be savvy enough to recognize the encroachment or overrun of anything long before I would have to begin the hard work of making corrections and recovering from the consequences of having or doing too much. But now I have come to understand that as long as there are things to be enjoyed and productivity to be pursued, Satan will always try to lure me to pursue something good until it spoils. I may learn how to draw impenetrable boundaries with one specific thing, but as long as I’m living on this earth, new things will keep appearing. God will continue to provide tremendous blessings, but the temptations to overuse them will keep coming. After all, that’s Satan’s self-assigned job. He’s passionate about twisting anything good into something bad. But my God-assigned job is even more powerful. I’m called to be passionate about relying on Jesus to help me both enjoy the blessings and endure the trials for His glory. Neither the pursuit of good things or the struggle over bad things should ever eclipse my love for —and trust in — God.

Sometimes we know that a good thing has turned sour long before we do anything about it. I’ve been waiting on my enough-is-enough moment regarding a particular issue for a long time. I’ve seen it coming for months now, and I’ve even longed for it, but have been unable to make it arrive any sooner. I’ve also simultaneously dreaded reaching that point, because when it arrives, it brings with it the discomfort of change, the difficulty of discipline, and the limitations of new boundary lines. But my life is crying out for it after a prolonged season of excess and counterfeit freedom. For me, reaching the point of being fed up enough to make a change is kind of like insomnia. The more I try to make myself fall asleep, the more elusive it becomes. Whatever this mental hurdle is called — I’m sure there must be a name for it — I have encountered it in almost every area of my life at one time or another. Whether it’s insomnia, an over-committed schedule, overeating, or even relationships, the motivation to finally draw the line in the sand and return to balance can be one of the most difficult things in life to find. And since there is no aspect of life that is not vulnerable to being overrun or overindulged, we can often find ourselves craving the motivation to make a change in multiple areas.

Two people in the Bible who articulated what it’s like to deal with having too much of a good thing are King Solomon and the Apostle Paul. While there is much to glean from their writings on the subject, they each handled the problem very differently. Solomon allowed the blessings of God to become his god until it was too late, finally seeking redemption at the end of His life. The gifts of marriage, financial comfort, and physical indulgence completely engulfed his every waking hour, eventually making him numb to anything meaningful, including the Lord’s presence. In Ecclesiastes 1:14, he gives us the theme of the book: “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Time and time again, he reminds us that the pleasures of life, the knowledge of the world, and even the work we perform, all have bottomless pits. There is no point at which we can experience complete satisfaction in anything other than God. Ecclesiastes 1:8 says, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” And we read in chapter 6 verse 7: “Everyone's toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is never satisfied.” Ecclesiastes is a cautionary lament from an old man who allowed himself to become so ensnared by good things that many years of his life were wasted wallowing in regret and feeling the pain of self-induced consequences.

Solomon is a great example of a mistake we often make when we reach our breaking point. As you read Ecclesiastes it becomes clear that he took everything to the extreme. When he reached the bottom of trying one thing, he’d push another thing to the brink. Just as his ancestors did in the desert when they gathered too much manna (see Exodus 16:13-20), Solomon ignored God’s boundaries and ran after excess of blessings. The result was the same: a beautiful thing became spoiled and unsatisfactory to consume any longer.

Sometimes when we finally declare, “Enough is enough,” and design our action plan for change, we only turn around and fall into a different pit of extremes. Rather than embracing the much-needed adjustment with a healthy intensity of change, we take drastic measures, somehow trading one obsession for another. Like rebounding from a bad relationship into an opposite — but equally detrimental — one, we feel compelled to wipe away everything associated with the thing we had too much of. And, so yet again, we often to respond to an imbalance in our lives with another imbalance. For example, the person who couldn’t say no and becomes so burned out on volunteering that she pulls out of serving altogether. Or another common case is the dieter who swears off an entire food group, versus learning the valuable discipline of eating in moderation. It doesn’t matter what the issue is, we can all relate to the mistake of going to extremes in an act of desperation. That’s because when we let anything reach a severe level and feel the gravity of the choices that got us there, our human nature tells us to counteract it with equal force. Ever since the Garden of Eden, humankind has felt the need to punish itself once exposed to the light of conviction. Yet the only One who could adequately punish us for our sins instead offers us forgiveness and wholeness forevermore.

And this is where the example of Paul’s life gives us the very hope which Solomon was struggling to find until the end of his life. Although he wasn’t a king like Solomon with limitless power and money, Paul had tasted what it was like to go to extremes and come up empty. As a paid mercenary for the Jewish leadership council in Jerusalem, Paul had a blank check when it came to persecuting Christians. And he was passionate about it too. He also earned plenty of cash doing what he loved. But then Jesus stepped into the picture and everything changed. After Paul’s conversion experience with the risen Christ, I’m sure he was tempted to punish himself, but instead, he was saturated with the grace and mercy poured out upon him by Jesus and then spent the rest of his life sharing the same with others. Rather than endlessly searching for earthly satisfaction as Solomon did, Paul allowed Jesus to bring it to him. Just listen to how differently Paul looks as life compared to Solomon. Philippians 4:11-13 says, “I’m not telling you this because I’m in need, for I have learned to be satisfied in any circumstance. I know what it means to lack, and I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. For I’m trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And I find that the strength of Christ’s explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty.”

Paul was deeply satisfied through the power of God. Solomon was riddled with emptiness and disappointment after chasing everything but God. Paul knew the secret to see the travails of the earth as meaningful and valuable. Solomon spent his whole life searching for the secret, only to declare that everything was meaningless in the end. Paul figured out that just because something wasn’t necessarily harmful, perhaps even what most people would call good, doesn’t mean it’s beneficial at all times. Solomon viewed the world as his oyster and erroneously believed that God had given it to him to have as much of it as he wanted. When he saw something as good, he fooled himself into believing that it was also beneficial in vast quantities. But here’s how Paul viewed it in 1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31: “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

The secret to living life in balance is filtering every choice through the light of the Word and in the power of the Holy Spirit. And when things do get out of balance — when you’ve lost your focus on glorifying God in a particular area and something that once was good has overrun your life — the secret to reaching your enough-is-enough moment is exactly the same. Whether you’re in a state of balance or just beginning to realize how out of balance life has become, clinging to Jesus is the antidote you need. Everything that can be experienced in this world — even the blessings of God — turn to ruin when out of balance… when consumed too much… when they become more important to us than the Gift-Giver Himself. When the thing, relationship, or habit we long for consumes more of our thoughts than Jesus, then it’s moved from being a blessing to being an idol. We’ve moved from a Sabbath margin mentality to a self-fulfillment mindset.

By contrast, we can never overdose on the Bread of Life. We can never exhaust the mercies of our Savior. We will never reach the end of His goodness. We can never max out on the fruits of the Spirit. John 6:57-58 describes the never-ending satisfaction of knowing Jesus more: “Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Every longing of our hearts that threatens to throw us out of balance points to a spiritual deficit. Every. Single. One. We cannot separate any part of ourselves from who we were created to be in Christ.

In most things we long for, we’re actually seeking comfort of some sort. Sheila Walsh said in her book The Longing in Me, “We long for peace, but we often grab control because it makes us feel that we are doing something.” For most of us, that good thing turned bad because we began to seek it not for God's intended purpose, but to fill a need in our lives… a hole in our heart… caused by a wound, a disappointment, or an unmet ambition. But no matter what drives our desires, God desires us to be with Him even more. There is no yearning on earth that can compare with how much He wants us to rely on Him, trust Him, and cling to Him for our deepest needs. Our Father delights in us and He longs for us to do the same by seeking Him first for our longings… by inviting Him into our cravings and desires and letting Him fulfill them through His presence and His means. Not our own. Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Did you catch that? When we run to God for our longings, He promises us joy. Not only that, but He rejoices in our need for Him. Psalm 147:11 says, “But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”

If you are in a place of balance today, take a moment to praise God for the sure footing you’re currently enjoying. But if the Holy Spirit nudged your heart about something that might be a little off-kilter in your life, don’t ignore it or pretend you didn’t hear it. Don’t wait until the problem reaches the boiling point. Declare right now that enough is absolutely enough. And if you’re concerned about whether you’ll have the sufficient motivation and willpower to truly follow through, then I have two suggestions. First, believe and trust in the Holy Spirit to display His power each time you take a step of faith in the right direction. And second, make Paul’s rally cry your very own. Romans 6:12-14: “Sin is a dethroned monarch; so you must no longer give it an opportunity to rule over your life, controlling how you live and compelling you to obey its desires and cravings. So then, refuse to answer its call to surrender your body as a tool for wickedness. Instead, passionately answer God’s call to keep yielding your body to Him as one who has now experienced resurrection life! You live now for His pleasure, ready to be used for His noble purpose. Remember this: sin will not conquer you, for God already has! You are not governed by law but governed by the reign of the grace of God.”

So, go ahead my brother or sister in Christ. Draw your line in the sand and commit to not letting the winds and rains of life wash away every trace of your intention. No matter what comes your way, your victory is already secure if you cling to Jesus.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

Five-Day Devotional Guide: For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week.

Day 1 - Read Matthew 6:19-24 twice, first in the ESV and then in The Message version. Now, in whichever version you prefer, go back and read it a third time, but instead of money/treasure being the topic, substitute whatever thing, person, or habit you currently have too much of — or desire too much of. After reading, spend time with the Lord in prayer and journaling about the state of your heart. If God whispers anything to you write it down.
Day 2 - Our bodies are gifts from the Lord to be used for His glory. Read Romans 12:1-2 and ask God to speak to your heart about the ways He wants you to serve Him, care for your body, and allow for breathing room in your life to live abundantly in His grace and by His schedule. Write down any adjustments that He wants you to make.
Day 3 - Every waking moment of our lives is designed to glorify Jesus. While that’s impossible to do within our own power, the Holy Spirit enables to grow more and more in that direction with each step of faith and obedience. Read Colossians 3:1-8 and consider any areas of your “old life” that have come back or you have never been able to defeat. What line in the sand do you need to draw today with God’s help? Write down your next baby step in that direction.
Day 4 - Whatever we consider our work, whether it’s a job, raising kids, volunteering, etc., we are to do everything as for the Lord. Read Colossians 3:22-24 and ask the Holy Spirit to whisper to you of any ways in which you are working for something other than for His glory. Write down your next step.
Day 5 - Look back over the last four days of scriptures and the ones mentioned in the blog post. Ask God which one He wants you to revisit and spend more time studying? Memorize it by making flash cards and putting them in your car, on your mirror, or anywhere else frequently visible. Read Deuteronomy 11:18 and then spend some time in prayer.

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How to Hear the Voice of God Part 2

6/5/2019

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How to Hear the Voice of God Part 2: 6 Hallmarks of His Voice

How to Hear the Voice of God Part 2: Six Hallmarks of His Voice

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Last week’s blog post highlighted the four ways we need to prepare our hearts to hear God’s voice and eight of the most common methods He uses to communicate. To get the most out of this week’s message, I would suggest listening or reading to part 1 first.

Have you ever misinterpreted an email from a friend or co-worker? It’s such a common occurrence, I bet every single person on earth who uses email has made inaccurate assumptions or has misinterpreted what the sender was trying to say. Then we all know what happens next. Either we sit and stew on it because we don’t want to call or visit the sender in person to clarify the meaning, or we do the most dreaded thing we all know we shouldn’t do (but we do it anyway)… we hit the reply button and send back a completely inappropriate response based on what we assume we heard. As we have all painfully experienced, mistakes happen when we assume. (And, yes, I think the acronym for assume fits, but I won’t repeat it here. Ahem.)

This is kind of how listening to God can be. When He speaks to us, it’s not like receiving a phone call from your best friend, whose voice you can often recognize just by the way she breathes or the way he clears his throat. With the Almighty’s voice, there’s no audible tone or style to hear. No inflections to indicate humor or anger. In short, most of us have so little familiarity with what He’s saying — either because what He’s asking us to do is so surprising or because we’re simply new or out of practice with hearing His direction — that after He’s spoken, we may spend minutes or hours second-guessing what we’ve heard. We can make some radically wrong assumptions. We can jump to conclusions. Sometimes we miss out on a blessing because we were too unsure to act when He spoke.

As you become more and more familiar with His unique voice in your life, which happens over a long period of time and with frequent practice, you will begin to clearly experience for yourself the signature characteristics, or hallmarks of His voice. These hallmarks are helpful in knowing what God’s voice sounds like and understanding His nature. However, even when you think you’ve heard from God clearly, never skip the step of seeking Scriptural confirmation. As we said last week, God’s Word will never contradict anything He personally lays on your heart. That means the principles and guidance outlined in the Bible must always — without any exceptions ever — must agree with, or support, whatever it is you’ve heard in order for God to even be considered as the source. Here’s an example: If you think God is telling you to go ahead and make a big purchase, but you are currently drowning in debt or struggling to tithe regularly, then the voice you’ve been hearing is either coming from your own desire or Satan’s temptation.

Beyond the principles and guidance, Scripture also gives us clear indications of God’s character, style, and approach. While these are more subjective than a specific command like tithing, these hallmarks of God’s guiding hand can be critical tools in discerning His voice in less obvious and more nuanced situations. While God is too big and simply unfathomable to pin down as a personality type (Romans 11:33, Isaiah 55:9), there are clear indicators of His voice that can be gleaned throughout Scripture. Just as important, the hallmarks of what is NOT His voice also materialize out of the preponderance of evidence in Scripture. Whether it’s your own voice or Satan’s sinister attempt to distract or misdirect you, knowing what the Bible indicates is not His voice is equally important.

Before we get into the six hallmarks, also keep in mind that a secondary confirmation of what He’s saying to you can come through the wise counsel of others. But, seeking input from spiritually mature friends, a Christian counselor, or your pastor, should never carry more weight than — or take the place of — direct Biblical confirmation. If God truly said something to you, then He’ll make sure you get confirmation in His Word in some manner. It may come through a Scriptural suggestion from a friend, in a sermon, or a myriad of other ways. But if you keep your heart open to God’s direction and are willing to surrender any of your own wisdom and desires, He will give you a confirmation in His Word, repeatedly in your prayer time, and secondarily through others and circumstances.

Now on to the six hallmarks. When the many Biblical accounts of God speaking are viewed holistically together, certain patterns, tones and defining characteristics emerge to give us these defining features of what His voice sounds like, as well as what it does not.

1. God pushes us out of our comfort zone, without imparting fear, a sense of foreboding, or worry. Only the wisdom of an omniscient (all-knowing) God who loves you beyond your wildest dreams and knows you better than you know yourself, could simultaneously ask you to step out of your comfort zone while giving you a shot of unexpected motivation and courage. When God asks you to do something, most of the time it will be something that you would not naturally want to do or think to do. Whether it’s a simple command to talk to a stranger or to sell something you value more than you should, when God speaks it goes right to the heart of the matter and the Holy Spirit gently but insistently pushes you to obey. And once you step out on faith — and not a moment before then — strength, courage, and peace flow. Philippians 4:6-7 makes it clear that when we are communicating with God, He gives us peace, even when the task at hand is difficult. Jesus said His peace rests upon us always in John 14:27. He wasn’t ambiguous when He said that. If something is from the Holy Spirit, there will be a sense of peace.

2. He uses repetition to get His message through the noise of life and emphasize His point. It’s a universal truth that human beings need to hear something at least seven times to be able to recall it. Seven! Advertisers know this proven fact, and that’s why you can recall some of the most annoying commercials on television. So if God is trying to get your attention, you better believe He is sending the message multiple times and through various ways. Two or three people might mention the same Bible verse to you. You may then sense His leading in prayer about the same thing and then again in the sermon you hear on Sunday. When you notice that a Bible verse, message, or theme starts popping up repeatedly in your life, immediately begin to pay very close attention. Journal about it and begin praying over it. In the Bible, Jesus repeated things of great importance multiple times. In the book of John alone, the word “believe” is repeated more than 100 times, emphasizing the need to place your trust in God before any of what is promised in His Word can manifest itself in your life. When Jesus explained the path of eternal life to Nicodemus, He began by repeating the word “truly” as a way of indicating the supreme importance of paying attention to what He was about to say. John 3:5 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

3. His direction can always be confirmed, but not through circumstances alone. A message from God will always line up with Scripture. If it doesn’t fit with the Bible, then dismiss it immediately, no questions asked. Don’t even entertain the thought or search for a different verse or interpretation to justify what you think you’ve heard. Secondary confirmation can also come through wise counsel (Proverbs 11:14 and 12:15), especially if it has to do with a decision that may not be a question of right or wrong, but more of a case of choosing between two paths, such as whether to accept a new job offer or move to a new location. The Word tells us to seek the counsel of mature, grounded believers to pray with us and ask for discernment. But I’ve learned the hard way, as have many others, to never rely on circumstances or the input of others to make the final confirmation of what you think God said. Evaluating the circumstances in your life and using your own assessment to make a decision based on that alone is no better than reading tea leaves or flipping a coin. In other words, no matter how tempting it is to be guided by obvious circumstances, don’t do it. Charting a course for your life based on what’s happening around you is one of Satan’s best deception tools for Christians because he can veil himself in light and never be noticed until it’s too late.

4. God usually delivers immediate instructions with authority, but not in a compulsive, frantic, random or bargaining manner. While God still chooses to anoint some with the gift of prophecy, most of His communication with us is about everyday dependence on Him. Usually, He gives us just enough instruction for the next step ahead (Psalm 119:105). The Holy Spirit will lead us day by day, not reveal the long term plan. We are to live in the present, not focused on the future. He gives us new mercies each morning, just for the day ahead. As we learn to listen for His voice throughout the day, what He asks us to do will become clearer over time. As we obey in the small things, He gradually gives us bigger things. On the other hand, Satan, or sometimes our own sinful desires, will throw random or frantic ideas at you that are compulsive or hyper-urgent. Satan loves to give you this intense feeling of pressure, like a used car salesman making you believe that if you don’t act now you’ll miss out on the best deal of your life. James 3:17 says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” What an excellent verse for testing everything you hear!

5. He speaks to bring conviction and freedom, not guilt. Learning the difference between the conviction of sin versus guilt and shame is crucial in distinguishing God’s voice from the enemy’s. The Holy Spirit will search your heart, especially in prayer, or in a moment immediately following a sinful act, and He will urge you toward repentance. He will push you to ask for forgiveness. Guilt, on the other hand, is a feeling of condemnation, worthlessness, hopelessness, shame, or a sense that you cannot — or shouldn’t — be forgiven. Think of conviction as a revelation that you’ve done wrong with a clear desire to repent and then move forward in freedom. Guilt is a foreboding, heavy feeling that keeps you from forgetting your sin and past mistakes. Guilt will literally rob you of being effective for Jesus, and that’s precisely Satan’s goal. No matter what you’ve done wrong, there is forgiveness in Jesus. Believe it. Ask for it. Receive the gift and move on. Any voice that makes you want to stay in the pit of guilt is coercing you into rejecting God’s best for you. Romans 8:1 gives us this clear, matter of fact pronouncement: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

6. He speaks to draw you closer to Him and to love others more than yourself. He will never give directions that promote human effort, glory, or favoritism. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment. He replied with, “And He said to him, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” So, God is never going to tell you to do anything that would tear down others or elevate yourself above others. And I am finishing up with this Scripture because it is the one you should repeat to yourself the most, especially when you sense the Holy Spirit leading you to do something in the moment, such as “help that elderly lady with her groceries.” According to Jesus’ words, you have all the confirmation you need to proceed. Other times, of course, you need to wait and seek more specific confirmation. But, again, remember that no message from God is too small to ignore. Even the smallest things could be the most significant in either someone else’s life, or even your own spiritual growth. You may think that He’s giving you “junior” level work to do, but He sees it as building blocks to a plan that He may take decades to unfold in your life. Trust Him. Listen to Him. Walk and learn with humility and a teachable spirit (Proverbs 15:31-33).

One of my favorite authors, John Piper, said God speaks to everyone — not just those who believe. He said, “Oh, unbeliever, God is speaking to you in your pain to warn you, and God is speaking to you in your pleasure to woo you.” But for those who believe, the sacrifice of Jesus turns our pain and suffering into instruments of sanctification, which simply means the process of becoming more holy… more like Jesus little by little. As for our moments of pleasure, with Jesus, they become reminders to praise Him and faint glimmers of the eternal joy that awaits us one day. In either case — in suffering or happiness — the Holy Spirit enables us to live supernaturally by displaying characteristics that could only be from God: humility, joy, gratitude, contentment, and hope in all circumstances. Living in this manner is one of the greatest ways we can speak to others about God. When we become vessels, albeit imperfect ones, that show glimpses of Jesus in everything we do, God speaks through us to a world that so desperately needs to hear Him. And what better way to live, than to not only hear His voice, but also become a conduit for His voice to a desperate and dying world around us?

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

Five-Day Devotional Guide: For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week.
Day 1 - Read Romans 11:33 and Isaiah 55:9. What do these two verse tell you about the nature and character of God? In what ways have you put God in a box? Think of a decision you need to make or wisdom that you need right now in your life. How might your own thoughts or ideas about what should happen or what you should do compare to what God might have in store? Ask God to lead your thoughts and pray for discernment and wisdom that is from Him and not your own.
Day 2 - Recall a time that God has asked you to do something out of your comfort zone. It may be something He whispered to you in the moment or a command in Scripture that makes you nervous or even frustrated. Journal about that experience and then read Mark 10:17-27. Read that passage a second time and substitute your own greatest desire instead of money/possessions. This passage isn’t only about money, it applies to any comfort in life that Jesus asks us to give up to follow Him.
Day 3 - When have you jumped to conclusions about God’s voice or direction in your life based on circumstances? How did things turn out when you did? Based on today’s message, write down and commit to memorizing a Bible verse that spoke to you about seeking confirmation in God’s Word rather than analyzing your situation or listening to other people’s guidance.
Day 4 - Which of the six hallmarks of God’s voice resonated with you the most at this point in your life? How has your obedience to His word impacted your ability to experience God or discern this particular hallmark? Read John 14:23 and James 1:22. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict your heart of any disobedience in your life.
Day 5 - Spend some time meditating on Matthew 22:36-40. Ask the Holy Spirit how He might be calling you to love others more. After spending some time in prayer, in what ways do you sense God leading you to serve others more? How do you think doing so will enable you to hear His voice more clearly? Write them and make an action plan to follow through.

Additional recommended resources for learning to hear God’s voice:
The Art of Listening Prayer, Seth Barnes
Discerning the Voice of God, Priscilla Shirer

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How to Get back on Track After a Big Setback

5/14/2019

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Get back on track after a spiritual setback

How to get back on track spiritually after a big setback

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I have been failing miserably for months now to do something important. A comforting habit I have conquered in the past through the power of the Holy Spirit, has come roaring back into my life during a time of being emotionally unsettled. As you may have heard me say before, most of my weekly messages are about what I am in the process of learning myself from the Holy Spirit. The key word in that last statement is “process,” as opposed to a word like “accomplishment.” That’s why I hope everyone who listens to or reads my blog knows that I am walking alongside you in this journey of faith, not reaching back to you with instructions from some pedestal of achievement. The only expert in our weekly conversations together is the Word, who is alive and speaking to us through His Spirit. I just try to get out of the way when God pours letters and sentences into my fingertips on the keyboard and out through the microphone. And believe me when I tell you that I struggle with being in His way… often.

And this is one of those times. Every moment in life is a teachable one when I let God be involved, but the Holy Spirit has been whispering to me for months now that I am not yielded to Him into a specific area of my life. I used to seek Him in that place, but now I have shut Him out again. I closed the door and clung to the dark comfort of an indulgence rather than learning to find a deeper, more satisfying comfort in Jesus. Have you ever done that? Reverted to an old, but an enticingly familiar habit, desire, activity, over-indulgence, or attitude? And when disappointment in ourselves arrives, shame and guilt eventually follow, which almost always results in further setback. And before we know it, we can be even more shackled to our mistakes and enslaved to selfish desires than we were when Jesus first came to get us. That’s because our natural state of existence is conditioned to repeat whatever makes us feel good with the least amount of mental or physical effort possible. If you are intrigued by the science behind this phenomenon, I wrote an in-depth blog post about this topic, which you can read here.

So how do we get back to where we want to be? How do we turn around when we’ve been letting our minds, bodies, habits, choices, or emotions dwell in — or even linger on the outskirts of — darker places? Once we get immersed into something we shouldn’t be — whether it’s as internal as a harmful way of thinking or as outward as the practice of materialism, how do we find the motivation to get out of the quagmire and set our muddy feet on the Rock of Jesus? When we desire for the mud to be magically washed away the moment we decide to give something over to God, how do we find the perseverance and patience to let the gradual healing of restoration take place?

The answers are found in Scripture, as they always are. In our quick-fix society, we just don’t like the often laborious and time-consuming solution that it offers. We want the grace, love, and forgiveness of being yoked with Jesus, but we’d rather not feel the weight of obedience to Him. That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Our Savior walked in the land of temptation while He was at His weakest physically, so He doesn’t make that statement lightly. He knows firsthand how weak our flesh is. Jesus submitted His flesh to the ultimate torture and death, to make it so we can live victoriously in ours. So the first step in returning to wholeness from an area of defeat is to renew your understanding of — and gratitude for — the power that dwells within you. You are not owned by your passions, desires, or cravings. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” God did a miraculous work for us so that we could work to glorify Him through the power of His Spirit. This is the essence of our partnership with God and the key to our growth. John Piper said, “Grace does not replace effort in the Christian life, but empowers it.” When you focus on Christ as your source of strength, versus your own, you can take the next step of restoration.

As I was planning for this message, I struggled with whether or not to tell you what my particular setback is, because I didn’t want you to focus on it. I want you to fill in the blank with your own type of struggle. But if you’ve come this far in our journey today, then you’ve probably done that by now. You’ve realized that the Word of God applies to any mistake, sin, or habit you could possibly be dealing with. My struggle right now is finding comfort in food, when I should be seeking it from God. But the principles from the Word apply to anything that we desire more than we desire God. Through a reliance on Him, He expects us to control every aspect of our daily lives. Whether it’s bridling our tongues from gossip or anger or managing our finances to be generous. Our thought lives are to be free of worry or lust, and our bodies are called to holiness in every thing we do with them or put into them. Even our time should all be yielded to His direction.

Whatever you are tempted by or ensnared by right now, God will reveal a way of escape, custom tailored just for you, if you are ready to leave the mud puddle behind. There’s a battle plan outlined in scripture for every believer, but the specific tactical maneuvers will vary based on how God made you. What works for me may not be what works for you. But when we earnestly seek Him through the Word, in prayer, memorizing scriptures against our strongholds, and lifting our hearts to praise Him, according to Psalm 40, He is faithful to provide the resources, wisdom, and help we need. James 1:5 promises, “ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” When we’re open to receiving His wisdom, it may show up in a myriad of forms, but it will always be consistent with scripture.

If you’re ready to return… if your heart is ready to surrender your cravings and desires and allow Jesus to replace them with His, then you can begin the journey by doing two critical things: prepare to defend your temple, which is your mind and body, and put on the armor of God. Lysa TerKeurst said, “God made us to crave — to desire eagerly, want greatly, and long for Him. But Satan wants to do everything possible to replace our craving for God with something else.” When you’re ready for restoration, Satan is going to pull out all the stops against you.

In preparing to defend your temple for God, the Bible gives us endless amounts of encouragement with clear direction. Begin by asking God to examine your heart according to Psalm 139:23. Get to the root of why you have been doing or thinking things you shouldn’t be. What need are you really trying to fulfill? Journal about it and seek God in prayer and in your quiet time with a scripture-heavy devotional aimed your particular issue. Your longing for something other than what God wants is never about the thing itself. It will always point to a deeper need. Ask Jesus to help you seek Him for that need and change your desires.

Also, make physical preparations in your life to reduce your temptation. Do everything you can to make your environment conducive to seeking God and not your bad habit. Finally, make yourself accountable for your decision to return to wholeness. Whether it’s your spouse, a friend, a counselor, or a Bible study group, make your weakness and your intent known. A supportive partner in the journey with whom you can be vulnerable and who is not struggling in the same area that you are is very important. Just be careful of legalism and give yourself the grace to make mistakes along the way back. God doesn’t want your perfection, He’s asking for your heart. He wants you to worship Him, not the thing you have been stumbling over or even the rules you set in place surrounding it.

Next, as you go into battle, put on the armor of God from Ephesians 6. Verse 12 warns us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Take the time to read and study about the armor of God. Ask God to give you a battle plan using His armor to tackle every nitty-gritty aspect of your setback. Don’t wait until the whole plan is revealed, either. Take action immediately and then patiently wait on God to give you one step at a time. Remember, God knows what you’re capable of now and in the future. And those two versions of you are radically different. So don’t resist the Holy Spirit if what He leads you to do seems small at first. He’s looking for consistency in your obedience over a significant period of time. The more incremental and sustained your changes are, the greater the likelihood of your long-term success.

If you’re currently in the middle of a setback like me, then there’s probably a tiny part of you that is tempted to rationalize lingering in the mud puddle a little longer, after all, Jesus will be faithful to forgive you every time. But Love puts a check in your spirit when you think like that doesn’t He? The Holy Spirit whispers to you the truth of Romans 6. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions… present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” God’s grace and love for us are endless, but we cannot claim to truly know Him if our own love doesn’t compel us to obey and honor Him.

You may not be in a place of setback right now, but you could be there again — in a heartbeat — given the right circumstances and emotional responses. And thinking otherwise is exactly the trap that Satan wants to lure us into time and time again. It’s exactly what Proverbs 16:18 warns us about. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” That verse isn’t only aimed at non-believers — it’s a warning from God to His precious children. And the verse right before it tells us how to avoid the fall in the first place: “The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.” We have to honor the guardrails that will keep us on the road toward Him. Every opportunity from God to draw closer to Him through obedience is also a prime opportunity for evil. Using the most insidious of strategies, Satan will attempt to use our own confidence… our own growth in Jesus… against us. Notice, of course, that I used the word attempt. You and I are not guaranteed to fail again. In fact, through the power of Christ within us, we are guaranteed to succeed eventually if we obey. (1 Corinthians 10:13) And it’s that hope that gets us off Satan’s merry-go-round of shame and guilt, and puts us back on solid ground again. We may find ourselves standing in an old territory or on a new battlefield, but we can begin walking toward God’s promised land again, no matter how far away we are.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week.
Make a battle plan! Read the passage from Ephesians 6 about the armor of God. Write down each piece of armor on its own sheet of paper. For the next 6 days, take one piece of armor each day and answer these questions on the sheet of paper during your quiet time with God.

What do you think this piece of armor represents? (You might find the notes in a study Bible like this one to be helpful. If you don't own a digital or print study Bible, you can try this one online or on your mobile device for free for 30 days.)
How do you think God wants you to use this piece of armor in your life? What can it do for you with regard to your struggles?
What is He leading you to do to become more adept in battle with this piece? How can you learn to use it better? What spiritual disciplines is the Holy Spirit leading you to do more of or become more proficient at doing? (meditation, memorization, tithing, fasting, prayer, worship, accountability to others, serving others, etc.)
In the middle of a battle, what specifically is God telling you to do this with this piece of armor? How will you activate it? Be specific. Think about your triggers and brainstorm ways to defeat them with the Word, prayer, and alternative, healthier activities. You may have to alter your routine to avoid even healthy/neutral things/activities for a season to reduce your triggers and temptations. Even little changes to your lifestyle can mitigate the effects of powerful triggers. Rejoice that you will be able to return to them someday once you've returned to spiritual wholeness.

How to get back on track after a spiritual setback

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The Surprising Truth about Spiritual Laziness

5/7/2019

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The Surprising Truth About Spiritual Laziness and What You Can Do About It

The Truth About Spiritual Laziness and What to Do About It

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On the surface, spiritual laziness looks like not getting up early enough to pray and read your Bible, but it really goes much, much deeper than that. When I searched the Internet on this topic, the vast majority of articles and blog posts focused on the disciplines of quiet time, going to church, and serving others. And all of those things are critically important. But from my personal experience, those disciplines and commitments are almost impossible to stick with unless the root of spiritual laziness is dug up and destroyed. Not praying regularly, reading the Bible daily, and committing to regular fellowship with other believers are usually symptoms of something buried much deeper in our souls. It’s kind of like trying to losing weight. You won’t stick with a diet until your heart, mind, and soul are aligned and motivated to do so. You may persevere for a while based on sheer willpower and stubbornness, but it won’t become a lifestyle until the spiritual battle is won within the deepest parts of your being.

So what is spiritual laziness if it’s not the failure to regularly implement the classic Christian activities and routines? To discover this answer, we can turn to the Biblical analogy of trees and fruit, which is used more than a hundred times throughout scripture. Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” In this verse, we discover that trust in God — a deep, abiding, unwavering, uncompromising trust — is the key to a fruitful life. That means that not trusting in God for anything and everything — i.e., worrying, trying to control outcomes, not submitting to God’s sovereignty — is at its core true spiritual laziness. Therefore, all of those wonderful and incredibly vital habits I mentioned earlier are the fruit of being spiritually active, but they are not the tree itself. The tree described in Jeremiah is fruitful because it’s rooted in the trust of the Lord, day and night, season after season, storm after storm.

If you feel slapped in the face right now, please know that I am right there with you. If I were to reveal my list of weaknesses, laziness has never been in my top 10. If anything, I am at times too energetic and too driven. A former boss of mine once said to me, “Your level of energy and dedication to your work makes your co-workers nervous.” And she didn’t entirely mean it as a compliment, and now many years later I have come to understand why. I’ve also realized that what shows up in my work habits is just as spiritually-connected as what comes out in my sacred disciplines for the Lord. Outwardly I appear to have it all together. My actions indicate a preponderance of fruitful behaviors and activities, but they only mask a deep, soul-level weakness — an overwhelming need to perform, to do, to achieve — all because I have unrecognized or unacknowledged trust issues with God. This is why being busy with the tasks of proper spirituality or duties of religion has in the past left me feeling drained, empty, and disconnected from God. But until recently I never realized that laziness had anything to do with it.

If this still doesn’t make sense to you, bear with me a moment more. The connection between laziness and mistrust is simply this: striving to trust God for everything takes great effort, put forth on a continual and consistent basis. And not just for a few weeks or months. Trust grows in layers throughout your lifetime. One decision or trial at a time. That means trusting Him even when we walk through long seasons of waiting, difficulties, or disappointments. When we don’t trust the Lord, it bubbles out into our lives in the form of busyness, trying to control situations or others, legalism, worrying, anxiety, escapism, the pursuit of accolades, or wealth, grumbling and complaining, and a whole host of other manifestations. Eugene Peterson, the editor of The Message version of the Bible puts it this way: “Sloth is most often evidenced in busyness … in frantic running around, trying to be everything to everyone, and then having no time to listen or pray, no time to become the person who is doing these things.”

A recent mental health article in the New York Times illustrates Peterson's point beautifully. “Laziness: it isn’t a characteristic usually associated with the anxious. If anything, people tend to view the anxious as more active and motivated than normal, because they are more haunted by the specter of failure. And yet long experience has taught me that it is laziness ... that is the foremost enemy of the anxiety sufferer, for laziness prevents him from countering the very patterns of thought that make him anxious in the first place.”

You may not be a worrier. Anxiety may be the last thing you resort to when times get tough. But if you struggle with anger or a need for control, then you also likely struggle with trusting God when difficult people or disturbing situations come into your life. While the article in the NY Times was written without any spiritual connotations or recommendations, it gets to the heart of the matter: every person has a choice to make when confronted with the daily decisions of life. We can make the effort to trust in God, let go of our own desires, and implement His divine recommendations for a healthy, fruitful life, or we can slide down the path of least mental resistance into our comfortable, but usually very detrimental, bad habits. This is why Paul says our faith is like running a race. He doesn’t say it’s like sitting in a meadow on a sunny day having a picnic. Our participation and consistent effort are required. Hebrews 12:1-2a says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith.”

One of the best parables of the Bible encourages us to risk everything we hold dear in order to walk closely with God. Our reputations, our lifestyles, our fears, and even our bodies are to be placed in His hands willingly. In Matthew 25:14-30 we read about the parable of the talents, which tells the story of a wealthy business owner who gives three employees each a sum of money and asks them to take care of it for him while he is away on a trip. Two of them immediately invested the money so that it would earn interest. The third one was fearful of what would happen if he made a mistake, so he simply buried the money for safekeeping. When the owner returned, this is what happened: “But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?” And then the passage closes with this warning: “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

In commenting on this parable, Oswald Chambers said, “The person who is lazy naturally is always captious (i.e., sully or a whining). ‘I haven’t had a decent chance,’ and the one who is lazy spiritually is captious with God. Lazy people always strike out on an independent line.” Of course, our definition of independence is different today than it was back then (circa 1900). Today we typically use the word independence in a much more positive fashion than Chambers intended. His implication is that lazy believers chart their course separately from God’s recommended path. Therefore when it comes to spiritual matters, they can all too easily use the excuse of independence — or what they believe to be our unique situation — to justify laziness, rebellion, or fear.

Jesus, on the other hand, calls us to be utterly dependent on Him. As Chambers says in his writings, we should never forget that our ability to trust in God and to serve Him with boldness — despite the risks to ourselves — is not measured by what we are capable of or what we desire to do. Instead, our abilities should be grounded in the promises of God never to fail us, leave us, or ask us to do something that He cannot achieve through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. In fact, the greatest miracles of life come when we are at our weakest and trust God to perform His work within us for the benefit of others and His glory. 2 Corinthians 4:7-11 says, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” So this verse implies that the weaker or more fearful you may be of what God has asked you to do, the greater the opportunity for Him to work miracles and display His glory.

Theologically, all of this may sound like solid truth to you, but if you’re still wondering what it all means for the day-to-day living and walking with Jesus, perhaps the following words will help you turn these spiritual implications into daily actions. As with most Biblical truth, there is great irony in God’s command to trust Him in Proverbs 3:5-6, which says simply: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” This verse contains two actions for us to follow: trust and submit. We must participate in the process. To bear fruit like the tree, we must remain planted by the streams of living water. Yet to keep ourselves out of spiritual laziness and make the efforts required of this command, we must simultaneously learn to simply rest. Yes, you read that right. To overcome laziness, we have to learn to be still. When we build Sabbath margin into our daily lives — not just on Sunday — we will have the time to breathe, think clearly, and engage our complete being — mind, body, and soul — in the pursuit of Jesus. The tree grows because it is beside the river of life. We will only grow in Christ when we take the time to drink of His strength and learn of His wisdom. So while I said at the beginning of this message that prayer, Bible study, meditation, and worship are the fruits of trust, they also become the building blocks of greater and greater trust as we faithfully apply them. But we’ll never see them appear as long as we allow busyness to proliferate in our lives and numb us to the real laziness of our hearts.

When we allow laziness to dominate our decisions and motivations, we only end up serving a false god, and not the true King of Glory. Laziness, or not trusting God, like any other sin feels good for a season. Other than busyness, it often shows up in the forms of escapism, like mindless TV watching, endless social media surfing, or a myriad of physical indulgences and coping mechanisms, but when we look it square in the eye and call it for what it is, we realize it’s all about trusting the unseen God to do what He says He will do. Today, I would ask you, fellow traveler, where are you planted? Are you putting only a few roots down near the river of life, while allowing others to seek comfort in the tainted soils of self-reliance or personal comfort? If so, ask God to help you find them again, dig them up, and transplant them into His unending goodness and strength. It won’t happen overnight, but when you wake each morning, His mercies will be new and waiting to sustain you through the process.

What do you think of today's message? Comment and share your thoughts below! And if God brought someone to mind as you read or listened, please encourage them by sharing this post today!

For Further Reflection and Daily Spiritual Journaling
The questions and readings below can be used for a single-day study or your daily quiet time throughout the week.
Day 1 - Describe in your own the words the difference between striving to perform for God (i.e. doing something out of duty or to achieve) and participating in God’s work in your life. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 and James 2:14-26. Why do you think you are sometimes motivated toward busyness or performance? What is God leading you to change? How? Write them out as a prayer to Him.
Day 2 - Read Lamentations 3:22-23. In what ways are you experiencing God’s mercies today or have in the past? How are they new or different to you now than they were yesterday? If you’re in a place of struggle right now, ask God to help you recognize and receive His mercies.
Day 3 - Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. How are you similar to the good servants? In what ways are you like the fearful servant? Journal about why you think that is, and what the Holy Spirit is revealing in your heart.
Day 4 - Take some time to be still before the Lord today. Begin by reading Proverbs 3:5-6 and then meditating on it. Ask God to interrupt you at any moment with what He wants to whisper to your heart. For more about practicing stillness and what it means, check out this blog post.
Day 5 - Spend some time reflecting on your schedule and your commitments at work, home, church, in your community, and other volunteering roles. Read Luke 10:38-42. Go to God in prayer and ask Him to reveal areas where you are too busy. If you have time, read this short blog post “Busyness is Not a Badge of Honor.”

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Finding the Fear to Live Fearlessly

4/10/2019

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Finding the Fear of God to Live Fearlessly in Christ

Finding the Fear of the Lord to Live Fearlessly

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Remember back in school when all you wanted in life was to be like the most popular kid? You know, that guy or girl that every other kid secretly wanted to be? For most teens, an envy of this nature usually kicks in sometime during middle school and can last well into high school. I suffered from a jealousy complex in a big way. There was one girl in particular who mesmerized me. To my immature and very naive eyes, she appeared to have it all — beauty, brains, cool parents, the right clothes, a glittering social life, and dozens of ardent admirers, both male and female, who seemed to pivot on her every move. And it wasn’t until the beginning of my senior year when I finally realized all the time and energy I had wasted trying to get into her circle of friends. I finally began to understand that my identity was nothing like hers, nor could any amount of effort on my part change the perception of my classmates regarding my social status. I couldn’t fabricate the “it” factor or generate authentic coolness. The only thing I could be genuine at was simply being me. For any of us who’ve tried to be like someone else, the realization that we can only be who we authentically are is both liberating and utterly frightening.

It wasn’t until many years after high school when I finally made the connection between my struggle with personal identity and my spiritual maturity in Christ. Sure, I grew up hearing the expressions, “Just be who God made you to be,” or “God made you unique for His purposes,” but platitudes like those never seemed to make me feel any better following a party snub from Mesmerizing Girl or a searing rejection from my latest crush. What finally clicked in my brain and set me on a solid path to a healthy self-identity began germinating in my college years and didn’t fully bloom until my late 20s. What was it? Having fear. The right kind of fear, that is, which is described in Psalm 103:11, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.” Another verse I love is Psalm 34:9, “Fear the Lord, you His godly people, for those who fear Him will have all they need.” That second part really spoke to me, because I had previously thought I needed to be like other people to find fulfillment in life. Yet God clearly indicated to me through those verses that if I learned what it was to fear Him and walk in fear of Him (Acts 9:31), I would never lack for anything.

The concept of fearing the Lord is mentioned hundreds of times throughout the Bible, with many of the verses praising those who do so. People who receive honor and blessing from God or other people are repeatedly labeled in both the old and new testaments with a specific identity… they are a particular category of people… they are called God-fearers. They are identified more by this spiritual trait than their jobs, their wealth, their families, or where they’re from. Perhaps most notable about their collective identity is that it is always mentioned in a positive light. This is remarkable in today’s culture because fear is commonly described as a negative emotion to avoid. When we read a verse like 1 John 4:18 which says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love,” we scratch our heads and wonder about the apparent contradiction. Why would God ask us to fear Him to the point of being marked by the fear, and then tell us that we shouldn’t have any fears because of His perfect love?

One of my favorite analogies to help explain the difference between the negative definition of fear and the positive practice of living in fear of the Lord, is from CS Lewis’ classic story The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The hero who saves the day is the strong and powerful Aslan. In this quote from the book, Susan, who is one of the main characters, has asked another character, Mr. Beaver, to tell her about Aslan.

“Aslan is a lion — the Lion, the great Lion.” [Said Mr. Beaver]
“Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion…”
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

When we think of Jesus as the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5), which is where Lewis got his idea for the character of Aslan, the first question that comes to our heads shouldn’t be, “Is He safe?” That question comes from our own need to feel comfortable and secure. Naturally, our first concern is us… what’s in it for us… and how easy it will it be to stay where we are or acquire what we think we need? But when we shift our perspective to who God is, our first response should be one of complete awe of His power, justice, and purity. On our own accord, by our own means or goodness, we could not survive standing in His presence. But, because God is also the source of perfect love and compassion, we can have no fear of anyone or anything else — not even death itself. Just as Aslan was mighty enough to destroy Susan or any other creature in Narnia, his nature of perfect love drove him to lay down his life for everyone else. As a result, Susan, her siblings, and all the others in the realm were offered protection from all fears and dangers, especially the evil White Witch.

William D. Eisenhower crafted the best explanation I’ve read regarding the paradox of fearing God as a path to experiencing a fearless life. In his 1986 Christianity Today article “Fearing God,” he said, “Unfortunately many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for, in truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion.”

As someone who has spent the majority of my life being afraid of something or someone, I long to grab ahold of Aslan’s mane and cling to him for dear life. I want to literally feel the breath from his fiery nostrils as he growls at my enemies. I want to see the muscles in his jaw ripple as he commands my fears to leave. But just as Aslan disappears at the end of Lewis’ epic tale and leaves the children with a promise of his presence, so God is asking me to humbly walk in daily awe of His power and trust in His perfect love to be with me, around me, and over me in any storm.

Oswald Chambers, the 19th-century missionary and theologian, said, “It is the most natural thing in the world to be scared, and the clearest evidence that God's grace is at work in our hearts is when we do not get into panics. The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

And so, we return to where we started at the beginning of this post. What does your personal identity have to do with the fear of the Lord? Romans 8:29 tells us that our goal as believers is to become more like Jesus. Each day, God is working on us — if we let Him — to transform us into the image of His Son. So that means any quality, character trait, or action that Jesus has or did while here on earth is worthy of emulation. Isaiah 11:2-3 describes Jesus as the coming Messiah this way, “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear…”

Reading those verses stopped me in my tracks. Fear of the Lord is mentioned twice in that short passage. If we are to become more like Jesus… if we are to be known by His name… then we will yield to the Spirit the way He did. Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord. As if this isn’t mind-blowing enough, ponder the fact that God delights in the awe and reverence of Himself in the person of His Son. God loves us enough to show us how — through the sacrifice of His Son — to find the deepest level of satisfaction a human can ever know. As adopted sons and daughters of God, bearing His name and His identity, Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Having a strong identity in Christ is grounded in having a fear of the Lord.

What does all of this mean on a real-world, super practical, down-in-the-trenches level? When we’re actively walking in the fear of the Lord — through no power or effort of our own, but instead yielding to the work of the Spirit — we are far less likely to worry and future-trip, fly off the handle in anger, gossip and slander, harbor jealousy, cheat, or any other sin. Our awe of who God is — both for His justice and His incredible power — convicts our hearts, while the outpouring of His perfect love assures us that He will be with us every moment. We cultivate our fear of the Lord to live fearlessly for Him. Can we do it perfectly? Not even close. Will we have stops, starts, and backward progressions? Yes. We are not the Perfect One described in Isaiah 11. But we are human vessels for the Perfect One, so when we allow Him to shine through our weaknesses, others will see glimpses of fearlessness. Tiny visions of glory. Rays of hope. And they’ll want it too. Don’t be afraid to grab hold of the fear of the Lord. Is it safe? No. Is it good? Oh yes.

For Further Reflection and Deeper Study

Take some time to reflect on your understanding of the fear of the Lord and what it means in daily practice. How has your perception of it changed (either from when you were growing up or when you first started following Jesus)? What statement or scripture from this message resonated with you the most and why?
How have you let fears dominate your life? Which ones have plagued you the longest? How does the concept of fearing the Lord challenge your perspectives on the power and relevance of those fears? Google “verses about fear of God,” read a few of them, and then pick one that speaks to your heart to memorize. Pray it back to God and ask Him to make it real in your life.
Developing a healthy practice of fearing the Lord brings with it many more blessings than just fearlessness. Based on the verses you just looked up, list out the benefits of fearing God. Which one of those benefits do you long for the most and why?
If you like the CS Lewis stories and you’re looking for a daily devotional for your quiet time with God, consider this one: Walking Through the Wardrobe: A Devotional Quest Into the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Sarah Arthur. The book is primarily aimed at teens and young adults, but the author’s Biblical insights are deep enough to challenge even the most seasoned believer.

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Fight Your Fears with the Fear of the Lord

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The 5 Lies of Social Media

3/6/2019

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The 5 Lies of Social Media Can Keep You from Living Out Your Faith Authentically

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If social media is like a road — useful for connecting us with others and offering interesting things to see along the way — then the deeply veiled lies lurking within it are like black ice. If you live in a cold climate then you probably caught my meaning immediately. If you don’t, then let me quickly explain. Black ice is formed when rain or melted snow flash freeze as the temperature drops. This invisible, dangerous glaze is virtually undetectable in low light or under cloudy skies, making it almost impossible to avoid slipping or skidding over it. Black ice is a leading culprit in cold weather accidents of all kinds, from falls to crashes. And the worst part is that you can’t see it coming. You’re just walking or driving along, and then boom! You’re down for the count or seriously sidetracked.

As I have been pondering God’s direction in my life for accessing and using social media, He kept bringing this concept of black ice to my mind. Like our everyday use of roadways, social media has become a universal, frequent communications conduit for most of the world’s population. In the United States alone, almost 80% of adults have created a social media profile. Since you aren’t likely to avoid the use of roads and banish yourself to a hermit’s life because of the risks associated with black ice, it’s also highly unlikely that you are going to spend your life avoiding social media. But similar to the hidden dangers of black ice, there are sneaky, pervasive lies woven throughout social media, changed and altered as needed by the master of deceit to target every person online regardless of age, gender, lifestyle, or spiritual conviction.

Perhaps the greatest danger of all is how savvy and smart we think we are, which only creates a false sense of security and makes us even more susceptible to any of these common lies. Like a skilled driver, we can all become overconfident, erroneously believing that we will not only see the black ice ahead of time, but that we will also be wise enough to avoid being duped and skidding off into dangerous territory. But the reality is that these chameleon-like lies are so versatile, so universally appealing, that Satan can tailor them to fit perfectly with any weakness we have, no matter how mature we are.

I’m sure there are more, but here are five lies that I have been encountering over and over as I’ve ramped up my own use of the social media freeway. Capable of cutting through the noise to reach us in the most surreptitious of manners, you may recognize some of these yourself, even in the most benign, encouraging, or seemingly “spiritual” aspects of social media. Of course, you’ll also notice that these lies have been around since the dawn of time. And Satan just gets better and better at using them with each passing generation and with each new technology or fad.

Lie #1: We deserve a certain level of success or achievement in order to have a strong identity.
Scriptural Truth: We are not entitled to any recognition and everything is a gift from God. The only identity we should seek to cultivate, approval we should hope to gain, or praise we should long for is that of Jesus. 1 Peter 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”
Oh, how this one snares even the most clever among us because it goes right to the emotion of our work ethic, desire for achievement, and pride of a job well done. Social media lures us into viewing our success — of any kind — in the light of others’ triumphs. Something as simple as seeing a friend’s apparently endless level of productivity and energy can make us feel less than adequate when it comes to our own perceived busyness. And this lie seeps across all forms of success and achievement, from the obvious ones like financial prosperity and career positions to the more subtle forms of recognition, like healthy relationships, thriving families, and volunteer leadership roles. Only God knows when we’re ready for a certain level of success or notoriety, if ever. So the only identity we need to focus on is whether we’re becoming more like Jesus or not. There is no comparison to anyone else.

Lie #2: We deserve to be rewarded and spoiled once in a while.
Scriptural Truth: The only rewards we should be motivated by are those encouraged by the Holy Spirit. Mark 8:35-36 says, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”
Everything about our modern age seeks to convince us that we deserve to spoil ourselves in some way. Whether it’s rewarding ourselves for losing 20 pounds by indulging in a decadent greasy cheeseburger or telling ourselves we deserve an unbudgeted trip to the Mall because of a promotion at work, social media can tempt us to concoct, sometimes self-defeating excuses to make ourselves happy. We have trained ourselves to be reward-driven so that we might resemble all the happy people in the social media feeds. Yet, God is calling us to desire His kind of rewards, not the world’s. Our best life comes through forgoing our earthly desires and instead of longing for heaven-minded ones. When we do this, we are rewarded with the fruits of the spirit, which are far better to obtain than any temporary pleasure.

Lie #3: We deserve to be the center of attention… at least every now and then.
Scriptural Truth: We are not worthy to be the center of attention for anything we’ve done, for our talents, or just because we’ve endured a trial or hardship. Romans 12:3 says, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
Being the center of attention is highly addictive. Even the most humble and well-meaning of people can fall in love with the idea or feeling of being adored by others. While it’s obvious how social media can feed our desire to be widely admired and valued, there’s a deeper deceit lying underneath the surface. Many of us would never overtly plaster social media with images of ourselves on a daily basis, yet we can ever-so-gradually get caught up in the lie that tells us we need to amass a huge legion of followers and a mountain of likes on our posts in order to make a positive difference for God. But our almighty Father won’t let a thing like social media stand in His way if it’s His will. Ever. God will never ask us to elevate ourselves above Him in order to achieve His plans for us. His accomplishments never require our works or our compromise. They simply require us to be a vessel.

Lie #4: We only have one life to live so we better take full advantage of it.
Scriptural Truth: We should be living each day knowing that the greatest portion of our existence will be in eternity. Matthew 6:21 reminds us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our time on earth is brief. So the age-old lie that we need to grab hold of all that we can while we’re able to do so is as energetic and appealing as it ever was. And social networks can feed our appetites for self indulgence if we let them. Every time we log on, we see friends with a new gadget, new fashion, traveling to cool places, or indulging in a lavish meal. While there’s likely nothing wrong with any of those things for a particular individual, when we are bombarded all at once by endless images of people doing countless enticing things, it can make occasional splurges seem like the everyday norm.

Lie #5: We need to be relevant at the sacrifice of holiness.
Scriptural Truth: Jesus never compromised God’s standards for the sake of reaching people or fitting in with the crowds that followed Him. Even among his own followers, Jesus never bowed to peer pressure or the need to feel accepted. John 6:65-66 says, “And He said, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.’ After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”
God’s truth has stood the test of time and cultural shifts without the help of humans. The Bible remains the most read book in the world for a reason — no matter what’s popular in society, people will always be inexplicably drawn to truth delivered with love. The reason many Christians are tempted to water down God’s truth when living out their lives online is because we’re afraid of offending someone in today’s politically correct culture. But there’s a time, a place, and a style for delivering truth — and it all needs to be orchestrated by the Holy Spirit’s leading. If we allow the Holy Spirit to fully and completely govern our social media usage and interactions, we will never need to worry about the outcome. Jesus wasn’t always well-received by every person, but He always accomplished God’s mission.

Because these lies can lurk anywhere and sneak up on us at any time, using social media in any capacity needs to be filtered through the moment-by-moment guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says not to grieve the Spirit, but every time we avoid His gentle nudging, we are doing just that. He might whisper to you, “That’s enough. Time to move on now,” when you’re looking at a friend’s vacation pictures and wondering why your spouse doesn’t take you to places like that. Instead, Paul calls us to put on the armor of God and wear it 24 hours a day, whether you are physically going somewhere or only traveling down the road of social influence. In Paul’s era, physical danger and persecution lurked around every corner, so the word picture he paints in Ephesians 6:10-18 of the tailor-made holy armor was especially reassuring. Today, it is highly unlikely any of us will encounter Roman dungeons or swords, but the realm of social media is no less a battlefield. The real enemy is unseen, but the wounds he wants to inflict can be life altering and gospel squelching. Satan’s number one goal is to make us less effective for God, so that means any of his well-rehearsed lies can be effective at discouraging us, distracting us, or diminishing our energy for the Gospel. But armed with God’s word and saturated with the Holy Spirit, we can march into the cultural arena with confidence knowing that no attempt to stop us can ever take away what matters most. When we seek to lose ourselves in Jesus, we find all that we need and abundantly more, no matter how many likes we get, what the latest hashtags promote, or the trendiest guru proclaims.
(Note: This was Part 2 of "Finding Spiritual Authenticity in the Selfie Age." You can read Part 1 here.)

Questions for Further Reflection

Read and spend some time meditating on the passage in Ephesians about the armor of God. Now go through each description of God’s armor and apply it to how you interact online, whether it be in social media, email, texting, watching entertainment videos, or surfing the web.
How is God calling you to alter your approach, opinion, or use of the internet and/or social media? If you don’t participate online at all, is that a decision you made or God directed you to make? Take some to pray about your involvement and seek His confirmation of your decision or His prodding to change it.
What are some ways God might be calling you to be more interactive and relationship-oriented through online communication methods? How can you carry the truth in love to others who are seeking answers online? What are some ways you can support those who are delivering the good news and love of Jesus to the online world?

The 5 Lies of Social Media that Can Prevent You from Living Out Your Faith Online

The 5 Sinful Traps of Social Media and How You Can Avoid Them to Live Out Your Faith Online

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The Most Neglected Way to Grow Closer to Jesus

2/20/2019

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The Most Neglected Way to Grow Closer to Jesus is Tithing

How Money May Be Keeping You Away From God

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Approximately 75% of American Christians are completely missing out on one of the most powerful ways to strengthen their faith and experience untold blessings in their lives. And of the 25% who do take part in this amazing spiritual discipline, only a mere 3 to 5% do it regularly despite two stunning facts. #1: it is mentioned in the Bible more than any other topic. And #2: it comes with an unequivocal promise of abundant blessing if it is practiced. What is it? Surrendering your heart and worshipping God through the consistent giving of tithes and offerings. Yikes! Some of you are about to tune me out right now. But before you do, please ask yourself this one thing, “Why did I react that way?” My guess is because most of us were brought up in a household where we were taught not to talk about money. It’s a private matter. It’s impolite. It’s personal. Money — more than any other thing on earth — instantly drives a stake in the ground. The moment it is mentioned or thought of, our skin starts to crawl. Something deep within our souls recoils and we instantly feel a teensy bit (or maybe a lot) uncomfortable.

But WHY? Why are we raised this way? Why do most of us get weird about it? Do we feel guilty because we secretly want more of it? Is it fear that we might lose what we have? Is it pride or keeping up appearances that prevent us from wanting others to know what we actually own… or how little we have? God knew from the dawn of creation that humans would have a volatile and uncomfortable relationship with money. Just read the story of Cain and Able’s first sacrifice in Genesis to refresh your memory! Giving back didn’t go over so well with Cain and Able paid the price with his life. That’s why you’ll find more than 2,350 verses in Scripture about money. Sixteen of the 38 parables Jesus told included instruction about how to handle money and possessions. And although it’s often misquoted, 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” Note that it doesn’t say that money IS the root of all evil. Money simply makes the path into trouble and danger easier to find.

But what if you could conquer your discomfort or your hesitation about money entirely? What if, in the process, by doing so, you drew closer to Jesus than you ever thought possible? What if… you believed in the promise associated with giving back to God enough to be in that 5% group and subsequently witnessed amazing things happening in your life? Conversely, what if NOT ever doing it meant that you would probably miss out on God’s greatest plans for your life?

Whether you’ve never tithed, tried it occasionally, or are practicing it regularly, the temptations associated with money’s role in our lives will never go away entirely this side of heaven, but these reminders about its place in God’s plan and how He wants to use it to bless us for His glory will be an encouragement and a challenge for us all.

How Money Sneaks Up on Us — Materialism is always lurking and it can come at us in surprising ways, which are as varied as there are people. Here are three key ways money or possessions can become a root of evil in our lives, eventually spawning serious threats to our walk with Jesus.

Money and possessions create an emotional attachment because we paid a price for something and now we want to protect it. It’s a natural human reaction when we acquire something we either worked hard for or feel that we deserve. Whatever we seek becomes our treasure. God understands what it means to pay a price for something valuable. He gave the life of Jesus to be with us. He understands first hand how attached we become to what we buy. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What we treasure becomes what we live for, whether we consciously realize that fact or not.
Materialism distracts us, distorts our desires, and consumes our time, limiting how we serve God, love others, and give back. Ecclesiastes 5:10 warns us that the more we have, the more we desire, and the less we are satisfied. Proverbs 28:25 says that the pursuit of money stirs up conflict, and I think that means both internal and external struggles.
Pursuing wealth and stuff without putting God first through tithing weakens or disables our spiritual gifts and calling. When we are too attached to possessions or too focused on money, it can severely hamper us from serving God as He intended. In Mark 10, a wealthy young man approaches Jesus with great reverence and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Obviously talented and smart, God had blessed the young man with many gifts, but his attachment to his wealth kept him from finding his greater calling in Christ. Jesus looked at him and saw into his heart. He knew that this young man had an immense burden that was weighing him down far more than any of the others in the crowd that day. It was a terrible condition far worse than those who were blind, lame or suffering from leprosy. The treasure of this man’s heart was big, deeply entrenched and very misguided. We don’t know if he eventually surrendered everything to Jesus or not, but on that particular day he “went away sorrowful.” He wanted to draw close to Jesus, but his money had created a barrier stronger than stone between them.

What God Calls Us to Do — The prescription to our heart condition is simply stated, but hard to cultivate, especially in the beginning. However, the Holy Spirit will empower us with every step of faith we take. The more we give back to Him out of every paycheck, the more exponentially our faith will increase.

He calls us to worship Him, not material things. And worshipping Him through tithes and offerings helps us keep our emotional attachments in check and our hearts focused on what’s important. Giving back to God is a proven path to healing for the spiritual condition of the human heart. God doesn’t ask us to tithe a portion of our money to Him because He or the church needs it. God asks us to give in order to heal us, to renew us, and to reshape us. According to Psalm 51:16-17, it’s not about the money itself. It’s about our willingness to surrender it all to Him in unabashed worship and adoration.
The Bible exhorts us to give sacrificially with a joyful heart.2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” If you have not reached the place where you can give to God out of joy and with a heart of worship, pray and meditate on that verse, asking the Holy Spirit to overflow your heart with trust and thanksgiving.
Trust in His protection and sovereignty as the owner and creator of all things.1 Chronicles 29:11 says, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” Psalm 91:1 promises us “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” In other words, when we place our trust in God, we will enjoy His direction and His protection over every moment of our lives.

How We’ll Be Blessed — Tithing, when practiced regularly and permanently, produces miraculous results in ways that will astound you, humble you, and draw you closer to the heart of Jesus in tangible ways. It is the only command in all of Scripture that comes with a clear invitation to test God. In Malachi 3:10-11 it’s like He is saying, “Go ahead. Do it. Ask me to prove how much you can trust me. And then stand back and watch in wonder what I do in your heart, mind, and life.” Getting into the practice of tithing will literally create a seismic shift in your walk with God. How you see things, your contentment level, your desires… almost everything will begin to change. When we study tithing in context with the whole of the Bible, it is beyond doubt that the blessings promised in Malachi don’t necessarily result in financial gain or prosperity, but the spiritual blessings of the abundant life Jesus promised are guaranteed.

We will be trained and prepared to serve Him in greater and greater ways for His glory, not our own. Jesus said in Luke 16:10-11, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” The surrender of our material resources has a powerful way of making us more humble.
We will gain financial peace and a contented heart. Hebrews 13:5tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money and purse a contented heart. When we turn things over to God’s capable management and honor Him through giving, we find immeasurable peace knowing our futures are in the hands of the King. I love the way John Piper put it in his article entitled Toward the Tithe and Beyond, “If expenses almost inevitably expand to fill the income—how shall we restrain ourselves from accumulating more and more stuff and more and more expensive stuff, and looking to the world like we have all the same values they do in our little earthly prelude to eternity? The answer is that as our income grows, we move beyond the tithe. We resolve to give a greater and greater percentage of our income to advance the kingdom. This puts the brakes on our natural impulse toward luxury.”
We will be better protected and miraculously sustained. Psalm 41:1-3says those who are generous and give to the poor will have God’s special protection. And the second half of the Malachi passage promises this, “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!’” I have personally seen miraculous provision from God on countless occasions, ranging from friends unexpectedly pitching in to help with a project, an unanticipated check in the mail, a promotion at work during a time of great need, and even a place to live for a displaced relative. But the greatest blessing of all has been the gradual reduction of my desires for things He knows will distract me from serving Him. The more I pursue God the more I long for the things He loves and not the things I used to love.

Giving your tithes and offerings to God is simply worship. It is part of learning to love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. It is just another way you and I become living sacrifices to Him — for His specific use and under His protection. And if you make a commitment to Him – that He has led you to make -- He will do His part to deliver on His end of the bargain. Now that’s something you can bank on.

How has God provided for you? Comment below to share your stories of our Heavenly Father’s provision for you and your family.

Questions for Further Reflection and Next Steps

Are there any areas where you can sense that materialism has crept into your heart? Is there anything that you desire that sometimes overshadows your love for God or distracts you from serving? Is there any seed of comparison or sense of pride in your heart about your attitude and perspectives toward money? For more about finding contentment, see this blog post.
In what ways is God challenging you to make changes in your financial habits? As you go to God in prayer, pray this Psalm 51:10 back to Him.
If you would like help with your finances or want to learn more about tithing, even if you have debt, I encourage you to seek out a Bible study on finances at your church, check out these resources from Dave Ramsey, or check out his book on financial peace from your local library.

***
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The Most Neglected Way to Grow Closer to Jesus

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Winning the Battle Within

2/6/2019

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Winning the Battle Within Spiritual Faith God

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There is nothing I like more than — and despise at the same time as — falling asleep on the couch. While I do love that warm, soothing feeling of dozing off underneath my favorite fluffy throw while watching an episode of Friends on Netflix, I can hardly think of anything else so good that is simultaneously so burdensome. Why? Because finding the motivation after I wake up to move my lethargic body off the couch, march up the stairs, and get ready for bed feels as monumentally hard as asking me to climb Mount Washington in flip-flops.

Perhaps this is indicative of why I am not a napper. I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who could take a 20-minute cat nap and feel like a million dollars afterward, but instead I wake up feeling like a cat that got locked out of the house last night and got beat up by the neighborhood bully. So as much as I adore settling in for the night in my jammies on the couch, I’ve learned the hard way that when the battle of the eyelids sets in, I must resist with all my might and just go to bed whether or not what I’m watching or reading has concluded.

While the story of my couch battle is certainly one of life’s minor ironies, the spiritual battles within all of us are anything but minor and often stir up baffling contradictions of simultaneous love and hate. We often find ourselves startled when an internal battle swells up and threatens to take us back into old habits, sins, worry, or long-forgotten pain. That thing that we promised God and ourselves that we would never do again. That habit that comes back when we’re under stress, worry, or fatigue. That old wound that we find ourselves going back to revisit after many months of walking in freedom. No matter what the struggle is, we’ve learned the prescription for healing and victory in the past, but either we’re feeling too weak to execute on the remedy or we inexplicably give into willfulness or rebellion.

No matter our spiritual maturity or emotional intelligence level, we have ALL been there and we’ll all be there again. But at every point in our faith journey, we can find concrete encouragement and explicit instructions in God’s Word on how to overcome our battles and learn to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and souls. Out of all the fully human champions chronicled in the Bible, King David of the Old Testament and the apostle Paul in the New Testament were the best at confessing and verbalizing the spiritual battles waging within. Through the Psalms and most of Paul’s epistles, we find deeply relatable pleas for help and highly motivational tutorials for managing the war that wages between our fleshly desires and God’s best for us.

One of the many remedies God has directed me to use in effectively fighting internal battles is exercise. Like getting up from the couch after dozing off, some days it takes a seemingly gargantuan effort to make it happen. But yesterday I had an especially rare and alluring incentive — it was sunny and almost 60 degrees at my house. For those not familiar with Maine weather, trust me when I say that a temperature like that in early February makes a Mainer want to break out into the Hallelujah Chorus. And I just about did as I power walked the slushy, muddy roads in my neighborhood. On my turn back toward home, as I looked up at the sunshine filtering down through the tall evergreens, I suddenly realized how much the outcome of our battles is dependent on our perspective. Perspective isn’t just in our minds. It’s a battle plan for a victory already won.

Getting out for some exercise when I don’t want to do so, helps me develop the motivation and attitude I personally need to stay out of mental pitfalls. It also gives me the energy to finish my day strong. When I looked at the uncommon beauty and warmth spilling through the trees, I was reminded of the blessings and hope God gives me, versus whatever cold, uncomfortable, or dangerous roads I may be walking on at the time. As I snapped a quick picture of the scene above me, it was as though God whispered, “See what a difference it makes when you keep your thoughts focused up here, and not on the unfortunate conditions of the road you’re on?”

In Romans (chapters 7 and 8) 7:17-25 -- 8:1-2, Paul confesses about his own internal battles, reassuring us that even the greatest among us must continue to fight the good fight. Because The Message version of the Bible expresses it so profoundly, I’ve included Paul’s entire thoughts on the subject here. He says:

For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

The specifics of what we struggle with may change many times throughout our lives, but God is never content to stop peeling away the contaminated layers of our soul as He continually refines His workmanship. Each day on our journey here is one day closer to our final battle, which is already won for us. As I left for my walk, I was wrestling with a strong mental distraction, but the Holy Spirit lifted my head and reminded me that a view of victory was only a perspective shift away. No matter what skirmishes we encounter along the way, Jesus promises triumph for us in the day-to-day struggles of the heart and mind.

1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that no sin or trial can overtake us without God providing a way of escape or the ability to endure it. And 2 Timothy 1:7 assures us that He has given us a spirit of courage, power, love, and self-control.

Our job is to simply believe those two perspective-changing promises enough to act on them. Keep going as if they are true… because they are. Take the next step believing God will deliver the escape, contentment, hope, peace, mercy, grace, and strength you need as you need it, even though you can’t see it or feel it now. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but the real hard work has already been completed by our Savior. Our temporary battles here are all won because of the eternal victory Jesus has already secured. A valiant warrior holding to the vision of a sure outcome is far more likely to succeed than even the bravest hero with a bleak perspective. And in God’s eyes, we are all warriors, armed with His power and might. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Paul asks in Romans 8:31 and goes on to say in verse 37, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

Some of the roads we’ll walk in this life will be slippery, unpleasant, and cold. We’ll be destined to walk some them over and over until we learn. But our loving Savior has promised that every step we take has the potential to bring us closer to Him. The choice of direction is ours, but the power to move forward is all His.

Questions for Reflection

In what ways do you think you need to shift your perspective about some of the difficulties you face? What can you begin doing with God's help to better prepare for victory in your life?
For every ache in our soul, there is a remedy in God's Word. Read Psalm 40 out loud while you think of the greatest battles you're facing right now. What do you sense God telling you about your struggles? What attributes of God described in this Psalm mean the most to you right now and why?
If today’s message encouraged you in some way, please pause and ask God what He would have you do based on what you just read. In addition to some action step or change on your part, ask Him who He’d like you to reach out today with this same message of hope. Whomever He lays on your heart, please don’t hesitate for one second to begin praying for them. You could also send them this blog post with a personal note encouraging them.

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Finding Compassion in a World of Condemnation

10/24/2018

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Finding Compassion in a World of Condemnation

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We live in a world that is quick to condemn and prone to instant reactionary judgment regardless of moral, ethical, religious, or political leanings. Of course, this reality is nothing new, but there are times when it seems far worse and more suffocating than others. The human tendency to react with judgment rather than curiosity, grace, and compassion has been our collective flaw since the dawn of time. And while this post is not at all about politics, but rather the pervasive temptation of condemnation across all facets of our lives, I’ve always been especially grateful that election season immediately precedes the holidays. The founding fathers selected early November because it followed the harvest period and generally came before the consistent arrival of winter weather. But God surely had a hand in giving them that wisdom because after months and months of public incivility, arguing, and communication saturation, we all need to hear the refreshing themes of “good will toward men” and “tis the season to be jolly.”

Liberal, conservative, spiritual, atheistic, wealthy, poor, straight, gay, married, divorced, traditional, or progressive, regardless of our beliefs and convictions, we are all equally capable of making harsh, rash and horribly inaccurate assessments, casting blame, and applying labels to others. If it wasn’t so damaging, the level of polarization on any side of human preference would almost be comical to observe from a neutral perspective. Like the song made famous by Bette Midler, if we could view ourselves from far, far away it would be so much better: “From a distance, we are instruments marching in a common band… From a distance, there is harmony and it echoes through the land. God is watching us, God is watching us … from a distance.” Though I love the fabulous Ms. Bette, she couldn’t be more wrong. God is indeed watching us, but He is certainly not doing it from a distance. As Jesus did when He walked the earth, the Holy Spirit is here among us, trying to work through us, and is mightily grieved by the judgmental, divisive, and abrasive words humans carelessly fling about as though we have an excuse or license to do so.

Many Christians are fond of reacting to the all-too-common sin of condemnation by saying things like, “love the sinner, hate the sin,” and do their best to make it clear that they are adept at knowing the difference. But unfortunately, even a well-intentioned cliche like that has become horribly maligned and poorly received by the people who don’t believe they are sinning in the first place. That’s because the truth of the matter is, no one will feel that they are loved as long as you hate anything about them. Love and hate simply cannot co-exist in the same heart space. Embracing the attitude of this expression unintentionally, but inherently, links judgment to the action of loving. It makes offering the love conditional in some manner, no matter how much we argue that it doesn’t. We cannot effectively communicate the fullness of love to someone we disagree with if we are telling them that something they are doing is hateful at the same time. All they hear is the hate in our words, and miss our love, even if it’s really there.

So for those who long to share the love of Christ with others, what are we to do? I’m not writing about this today because I have the complete answer to that question. Because I simply don’t. I only have some clues to share based on two fundamental truths Jesus taught plainly. First, He commands me to love others as I would myself. Second, God asks me to love Him with my whole heart and mind, which means I must try to live by the convictions of the Holy Spirit. As I seek to love Him that way, He makes it clear through His Word and His voice in my heart what He regards as holy, honoring, and pleasing to Him.

One clue I have in reconciling these two truths is that the focus of each is different. Did you notice that the focal point of the first commandment is others? When Jesus gave the command in Mark 12:30-31, He didn’t add any qualifiers to that statement. We are to love our neighbor, who can be any one of any lifestyle, persuasion, political leaning, or faith. On the other hand, the focus of the second commandment is me and my relationship with God. Not your relationship with God. Not my neighbor’s relationship with God, or lack thereof. The only human being on the planet with a heart that I can look into and evaluate is my own.

The second clue I found in dealing with this conundrum is how Jesus reacted to people in his earthly ministry. I don’t think Jesus would have ever put a word that refers to a person’s eternal soul, a.k.a. the “sinner,” on the same weight and value as a word that refers to their earthly actions, a.k.a. the “sin.” Jesus loved people regardless of their sins, and He grieved over their sins. He even expressed sadness over the sin of those who would ultimately be responsible for His death on the cross. In Luke 13:34, Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” When I read that verse, I hear longing in His voice, not anger or words of judgment.

In story after story in the Gospels, we see Jesus embracing people caught up in habitual sin. The woman at the well. The prostitutes. The tax collectors who cheated people regularly. The woman caught in adultery. And so many more. Never once did He focus on their sins. Instead, He focused on loving them as people first. He knew that after they came to love Him in return, the Holy Spirit would deal with their sins in His time. Of course, it is important to note that He never condoned their sins either. And this is the uncomfortable truth about Jesus’ example that many people carry too far in justifying their own sins or excusing the sins of others. It is a very fine line and one that can only be walked in the power of the Holy Spirit.

John MacArthur said, “Don't ever let your adoration of the doctrine of sovereignty crowd out God's compassion or replace human responsibility with some kind of fatalism. Jesus wept because of this unwillingness to believe. It grieved His heart and it should grieve ours as well.” Jesus demonstrated grief over those who were blind to the truth of who He was and His offer of abundant life. Jesus allowed people to reject Him. He never forced Himself on anyone. Instead, He grieved over their waywardness, stubbornness, and sinfulness. When we are truly allowing the love of Christ to saturate our hearts, the result is sadness, grace, and compassion for those who refuse to believe, are trapped in habitual sin, or lash out in pain. How can we demand Christian morality from people who don’t love Christ?

For this reason, I think the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” should be banned from Christian vernacular and replaced with simply “love people to Jesus.” If we are truly loving people on their journey to Jesus, then we will grieve as Jesus did over their sin and respond not with judgment, but with compassion. Most importantly, we will be removing any personal responsibility for their sin from our vocabulary. Our actions should be contained to the realm of love, not hate. We cannot convict hearts. We cannot change people. Only Jesus can do that, and when they eventually come to Him, He will most certainly take care of their sins with expert timing and surgical precision. And we must resist thinking that what we believe to be the most egregious sins will be first on Jesus’ cleanup list. Letting Him do His work without our judgment is one of the hardest aspects of Godly love.

So when is it right to speak out about sin? The short answer is only when the Holy Spirit leads us to do so, and we better be very sure of that leading. Jesus demonstrated righteous anger when people committed atrocities in the name of His heavenly Father. He drove the moneychangers out of the temple because they were defiling God’s dwelling place, corrupting what is holy, and taking advantage of the faithful. He had strong words for those who prey upon innocent children, the weak, and less fortunate. Likewise, He spoke sternly and unequivocally against “religious” people wrapped up in hypocrisy, hard-heartedness, pride, and superiority.

When we do consider sharing our anger or simply calling out someone’s sin, the first question to ask is whether or not the situation or person you want to address is within the church body or outside the faith. There is no question that God calls believers to hold each other accountable for sin, but there is a very specific, prayerful process the Bible gives us to follow when doing so. Here is a brief article on the topic from Lisa Harper.

With those outside of the faith, we look to Jesus’ example of leading them toward God gently with love and not judgment. If you suspect God might be leading you to speak out to a person or stand up for a cause, one of the key indicators is whether or not God is also calling you to take action. Words delivered without some kind of Spirit-directed action are rarely of God. Many of the world’s greatest movements to stop corruption, reform broken systems, and help those in need have been started by Christians called out by God to create change. On the other hand, carelessly flinging accusations, harsh rhetoric, and rants on social media do nothing to change society, unify believers, or stop corruption. Venting, accusing, labeling, and blaming don’t contribute anything but negative consequences, while Spirit-led action can change the world.

One of Billy Graham’s most famous quotes happened in 1998 right after he had attended a dinner with Bill Clinton during the height of the impeachment crisis. When asked how he could behave so graciously to the President during the event, his response was simply, “It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict; it’s God’s job to judge; and it’s our job to love.” Until Jesus returns one day, the world will never be as it appears from a distance. And we will always battle the temptation to judge others. But by striving to do what God has asked us to do — and not the things only He can do — we can be purveyors of love rather than accidental carriers of hate.
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The Subversive Power of Secrets

10/17/2018

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We cannot keep anything secret from God. This statement may seem as indisputably clear as lightning in a night sky, but as many of us have learned the hard way, it is anything but obvious in daily practice. With the exception of Jesus himself, many heroes of the faith — both Biblical and modern-day ones — have succumbed to the lie that no one will find out, care, or be hurt by our secret thoughts and deeds. So I’m not sure why any of the rest of us would ever think that we could keep secrets contained within some boundary of mere human design.

For many people, the idea of keeping secrets from God does sound ludicrous until they end up getting caught by one they didn’t even know they were keeping. Problems can hibernate under the surface of our lives when we erroneously believe that we are immune to certain temptations because of our maturity or previous track record of success. In other cases, the secret issue may have started out as a completely benign habit, indulgence, or conversation, but slowly crept into sinful territory over weeks, months, or years. Furthermore, a secret doesn’t have to be classified as “big” to create significant havoc when it is finally revealed. All too often, it’s the little things that slowly snowball over time, fed by the darkness we keep them in, that end up causing us the most trouble. Regardless of where they come from or why, no one at any level of maturity or belief is immune to harboring secrets in the heart.

One thing all believers can count on is that somehow, some way, and at some point, God will always unearth secrets from the hearts of the ones He loves. He paid too high of a price for us, has plans too great to fail, and loves us too much to let our secrets burrow down, deepen the roots of sin, and grow tentacles of destruction in our lives either now or in the distant future. Whether it’s the large-scale public exposure of a mega-church pastor involved in an affair or the seemingly small revelation that a boss has been taking all the credit for her staff’s hard work, God is not only aware of every little detail in our lives (Psalm 139:1-4), He promises without exception that He will work things out for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). That means the truth will always come out… one way or another.

In my own life, I have always been amazed to discover how widespread or deeply connected the impact harboring a secret can be. Earlier this year, my pride lured me into keeping what most people would consider to be a relatively minor secret from my husband, but the Holy Spirit used the incident to teach me how important it is for nothing to come between me and my spouse. When God calls people to serve Him, He takes into account far more than the individual, especially if he or she is married. God’s plan for oneness in marriage means that when He gives direction to one spouse, He intends for the other to have a powerful role as well, even if it’s in the form of prayer support only.

Because it’s not only illustrative of my point, but also because it’s embarrassingly funny, I’ll tell you about the secret I attempted to keep. It all started with a knot in my shoulder while my husband was away traveling on business. Since he wasn’t around to work out the kinks in my muscles, I attempted to knead the knot myself with a massage ball … on the wall. By the time I was finished, the knot was better. The wall was not. I didn’t see the damage to the drywall at first, but later in the shadows of evening light, the divots became startlingly visible. As I stared at them in disbelief, I decided right then and there that I needed to fix them myself. I reasoned out that if my husband had done something to damage one of our walls, he wouldn’t have asked me what to do about it first. He would simply repair it. Therefore, I decided that I wouldn’t say anything when he got home, and if he didn’t notice it, then I would take care of the work myself the next time he was away. Key to this prideful decision on my part was that he had warned me before that it was better to use the massage ball on the floor and not the wall. My pride flared again.

When my husband arrived home that week he didn’t notice the wall damage and I smiled secretly to myself as I imagined being the self-reliant homeowner with mad drywall and paint skills. Determined to take care of my own messes, I began the project as soon as he took another trip. Going to the paint store, I had them mix the exact same color shown on my receipt from our last purchase. This was going to be a breeze, I thought. Oh, how wrong I was. After two rounds of divot repair and sanding, I finally began to paint. It was close. Super close. But not a perfect match. And again, the evening light revealed more than daylight, picking up on the slightly different textures of the patch job just below the fresh coat of paint. I went to bed panicked as the flaws in my logic slowly surfaced in the closing darkness. If I couldn’t make it better, I’d not only have to reveal my mistake, but also acknowledge that my repair skills are woefully lacking. Pride whispered to me again and kept me awake for hours.

The next day, I researched paint feathering and blending. I diluted and tested, diluted and tested again. Before long, my advanced feathering technique had left me with a repair zone more than three times the size of the original set of divots. It was better, but it wasn’t perfect. And I went to bed again with my pride singing a cold lullaby.

When he came home again, I held my breath. And once again, he didn’t notice. So I convinced myself that I’d done a great job, even if I could still see the evidence of my secret every evening as I settled into bed. My pride was telling me to forget about it and just move on. But now, the Holy Spirit was the One keeping me awake. Over the next several weeks, I wrestled with my secret. I worked out various conversational scenarios in my head in case he ever noticed my repair job. And finally, one Saturday morning as we talked about several potential home improvement projects, the Holy Spirit’s conviction became so loud in my heart, it was though He were literally yelling at me. “Tell him. Confess. Not later. Now. Now.” Thinking back on it, I absolutely laugh at myself now, but my heart was pounding that morning.

Finally, I obeyed and revealed my secret repair job to my husband. When I traced the outline of my brilliant feathering technique with my finger, he finally saw it and said with a smile, “When did you accomplish this?” To him, it was not a huge deal. Not nearly what I had made it out to be in my mind. To me, revealing my secret was like being able to breathe again. In the coming days, the Holy Spirit began to remind me of how incredibly important it was for there to be nothing between me and the one I share my life with, just as there is to be nothing between me and my Savior.

One of the most tangible ways God shows His love toward us is through the important people in our lives. The love shared between spouses, family members, friends, and our community of believers is a sacred love. It is the way we show the love of Jesus to each other and to a larger world that is desperately searching for authenticity, hope, and tangible evidence of a caring God. Secrets kill sacred love. They destroy God’s plan for sharing that love. They gnaw away at our peace and threaten to destroy our relationships. Secrets are never contained within just one person, no matter how effective we are at concealing them. They remain an obstacle between us and God, and their existence almost always comes between us and someone we are called to love.

Just look at the devastation that gossip can do to a group of friends, a ministry, a work team, or a neighborhood. Gossip is by its very definition a collection of secrets shared among an elite few. Juicy tidbits passed between friends may seem — and feel — harmless, but there’s probably not a person on earth who hasn’t felt the sting of a careless word or an intentional slam from someone they previously thought to be trustworthy.

God has a high standard regarding secrets. In the early church, there was a couple (Ananias and Sapphira) who volunteered to sell a piece of their property to help those in need. But when Ananias brought the proceeds to the church, God revealed to Peter that the couple had lied about the selling price and had kept some funds for themselves. Acts 5:1-11 records the incident and the tragic results of their secret. When Peter confronted Sapphira, he said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this?” Clearly, he was as baffled as we are as to why they felt the need to lie to God about a contribution that was entirely voluntary. This story reveals the very nature of secrets — they usually arise to cover up something that doesn’t make sense or isn’t right in the first place. Luke 12:2-3 says, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.”

The human heart wasn’t designed to be a labyrinth of secrets. Rather, it was created to be a throne room for God Himself. As such, any secret we create will take up space that our Heavenly Father longs to fill up with His goodness, beauty, peace, truth, hope, and love. Psalm 51:6 says, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” When we become followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins the immediate work of transforming us into a vessel worthy of the King, and He will do anything it takes to make us ready to carry that Good News with everyone we encounter. So when the temptation to hold secrets comes our way, we should do as the Psalmist did, examining our motives in the light of God’s expectations. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me.” And when we surrender all our secrets to God, seeking His desires instead of ours, we are able to discover the power of Psalm 37:4 — it is not the desires of our hearts that make us truly happy, but rather God’s.
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To Seek is Human. To Find is Divine.

10/3/2018

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It can manifest itself in hundreds, if not thousands, of forms. It can change multiple times a day or persist throughout a lifetime. You might have a handful of them, a single overriding one, or many similar ones. But no matter which ones you have, every single one of them starts with the same potential — to glorify God, or grow out of control into sin, or linger somewhere in between.

What is it? The innate desire within us to seek. To hunt. To discover. To chase. From bargain hunters and storm chasers to avid collectors and adrenaline junkies, we are biologically wired and rewarded by the chemicals in our brains to seek out something or someone on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small, seemingly inconsequential quest, such as digging through a bargain bin of DVDs, or a life-long passionate pursuit to discover the cure for a disease, science confirms that almost every waking moment of our lives is dominated by a seeking-oriented task. And when we seek anything — truly anything — research has proven that our brains release at least one of four chemicals in the seeking process, whether it takes 30 seconds or thirty days to be fulfilled.

Every time we seek something, our brains release dopamine once we attain it. Dopamine is what makes us feel good when we get a reward that meets our needs. If you need the weather report, a tiny amount of dopamine is released once you tap the app on your smartphone and find your forecast. Wow, so doesn’t this explain our smartphone addictions? Since it feels good to search and be rewarded, we often feel subconsciously driven to search on our smartphones for that next hit of dopamine.

The bigger and longer the search, the greater the dopamine reward when it concludes. If you’ve been seeking the love of your life for 20 years, a huge amount of dopamine is released once you think you’ve found him or her. And here’s the bummer about this chemical and why it drives us so crazy: if we cannot get what we seek, the brain will drive us to pursue it until we do. So, depending on how much you’ve longed for something, you may or may not be able to give up the quest easily or without significant frustration. Again, this explains we get so inexplicably mad when our smartphones fail to produce what we’re searching for.

The other chemicals that may be released, depending on the type of quest, level of risk involved, and value of the reward, are just as much double-edged swords. Just like dopamine, these chemicals motivate us to repeat the behavior in order to feel good. Serotonin gives you a validating feeling when you receive admiration and respect from others. So if the acquisition of whatever you’re seeking is recognized by people you care about, you’ll feel even more gratified. Oxytocin is released when we do something that makes us feel like we belong to a group or experience safety in numbers. Lastly, adrenaline is the rush we feel during a quest that provides a significant thrill.

Without these chemicals, we wouldn’t be biologically motivated to do anything. Our brains are designed to stimulate these chemicals to spur us into action and get our needs met— from basic survival to advanced intellectual passions. In the process, we learn new skills, achieve something, and hopefully perform with excellence, which in turn makes us feel good enough to try even harder next time. Psalm 139:14 reassures us that no matter what our biology, we were designed for — and capable of — glorifying God when we submit to His leadership of our lives. "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."

So if God designed our biology, then we can believe He has a plan for using it for His glory. But before we look at the spiritual prescription for keeping our desire to seek under His control, let’s look at the reasons why it can go awry or out of control in the first place. John 8:31-32 says, "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’.” The more we get to know Jesus and dwell on the truth found only in Him through the Word, the more our eyes will be opened to the reality of our motivations, desires, and hearts. If we want to tame our desire to seek, then we must view it through the lens of truth, shaped by Jesus.

Seeking is so innate, so natural, that we usually don’t think about it, until a specific quest latches on to our hearts and minds in an unhealthy way and starts causing problems in our jobs, financial health, relationships, daily productivity, etc. Research has identified the primary psychological reasons driving our desire to seek, hunt, and pursue beyond a healthy level. Here are eight of the most common ones:

To feel like a winner. Pursuing just about anything or anyone can make us feel like we deserve bragging rights.
To distract us or procrastinate in order to avoid something we should be doing.
To entertain ourselves, fight boredom, or produce a sense of escape.
To fill a childhood vacuum or obtain something we felt deprived of for a long time.
To experience a sense of magic, destiny, fate. Some people get caught up in a quest until it becomes a mystical experience. Take for example this quote from a bargain hunter interviewed for a NY Times article about the thrill of the hunt. "When there’s something I’ve been eyeing and I see it go on sale, it’s like God just sort of put it there for me… You feel like it’s destiny."
To feel superior to someone else or to receive accolades at the culmination of the quest.
To help tolerate or forget uncomfortable feelings, such as stress, worry, fear, etc.
To fill a need for control as a substitute for something we can’t master.

The bodies God has given us don’t function well in a vacuum; they were originally created to work in harmony with our souls. That means our bodies work best in partnership with the Holy Spirit. (I Corinthians 6:19) God’s solution for controlling our hard-wired urges is for us to stay within the spiritual guardrails of our brain's biological pathways. We’re all guilty of driving right through some of those guardrails at one time or another. Sometimes we don’t even realize that guardrails are necessary in certain areas of our lives. We erroneously believe that we are immune to small or simple urges. Sometimes we think we are too mature to abuse, stumble over, or become obsessive with a quest. Finally, there are times when we need to humble ourselves and learn to rebuild or strengthen the guardrails to keep us out of trouble in the future.

One of the Holy Spirit’s key functions is to define, build up, and communicate about the guardrails needed in each of our lives. When He’s allowed to have carte blanche reign in your life, the Holy Spirit beautifully engineers guardrails made just for you, tailored to your own unique brain wiring, experiences, and calling. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, biology, talents, skills, life experiences, mistakes, weaknesses, all come together under God’s intricately designed plan for His glory. But, we have to do our part to participate in this constant construction project in our lives, and that is to surrender and obey continually out of love. While these steps aren’t exhaustive by any means, here are six ways to strengthen and honor your spiritual guardrails.

Examine your deep-seated beliefs for any lies you may have fallen for regarding your feelings, needs, coping mechanisms, habits, pride, or any other deceptions that feed inappropriate or overblown quests for something or someone.
Acknowledge and commit to the hard work for as long as it takes to stop seeking when you shouldn’t.
Filter every quest through the Word. If there’s anything in scriptures that causes you to pause about something you’ve been seeking, then stop until the Holy Spirit directs you.
Pray about every desire to seek and how you choose to use your time. When a quest for something is starting to go outside of the guardrails, time is often the first red flag before other indicators like money and relationships. Every minute we are breathing is a gift of God, and although we can’t possibly commit to never wasting a moment, we can strive to keep the vast majority of it within God’s guardrails. Of course, don’t forget that God intends us to enjoy life and build in restful margins with the time He gives us.
Get in the habit of realigning your attitude and perspectives with God’s versus the world’s. One of the strongest drivers of our need to seek beyond the guardrails is a lack of contentment. See this blog post for more about finding contentment.
Listen and obey. The best way to clearly see the guardrails and strengthen them is to obey when the Spirit says, “You’re getting too close to the edge right now. Back up.” When we listen and obey, the Holy Spirit strengthens our desire to seek Him first.

Jesus understands our desire to continuously seek because He fully experienced being a human just like us. So that means His brain released the same chemicals ours does. He got a dopamine rush when Joseph told him that He did a good job carving a piece of wood. He was flooded with serotonin and oxytocin when He hung out with the disciples and gave the sermon on the mount. He felt the adrenaline when He stood up and spoke in the synagogue for the first time. Sometimes I think we forget that Jesus was fully human and fully God at the same time. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that He said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Jesus was wired to seek, the same way we are, so He knows how to lead us away from temptation and into glorifying the Father the way He did. 1 Corinthians 10:13 gives us this assurance: "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” We don’t have to be mastered by our biological need to seek. Instead, we can learn to master it by being willing to see — and seize — God’s escape hatch for genuine fulfillment.
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Taming the Force of Habit

8/15/2018

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For almost six weeks this summer, my house was like a B&B with a string of out of town guests. Believe it or not, I had a great time playing hostess, baking early morning wild blueberry scones, making sure that each visitor had all the essentials, and checking the weather for any impact on our plans. Now, I don’t really consider myself overly gifted in the hospitality department, but I have to admit that my inner Martha Stewart emerged just a tiny bit, minus the over-the-top decorations and crafting projects. At the end of each day, I wanted to go to bed knowing that they had a good time, ate some amazing food, and felt comfortable enough to truly relax.

Despite this, after about the third week of welcoming family and friends, I was surprised to find myself struggling emotionally without the familiar comfort of some of my usual habits. In order to accommodate the desires and schedules of a houseful of vacationers, there were some routines I just had to temporarily give up. A few of my emotions were far stronger than I would have anticipated, and this realization made me stop and ask myself if I was just becoming too set in my ways (i.e. old!) to be flexible or if the power of my repetitive behaviors was far greater than I realized.

Then I recalled a quote from a research-driven book that I read a few years ago called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg: “(Habits) shape our lives far more than we realize — they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.” Phew! It’s not necessarily that I am getting old. I felt immediately better. But now I still had to figure out what to do about the emotions I was wrestling with since my life wouldn’t return to normal for several more weeks and, above all, I wanted to make everyone feel comfortable. I mean, who would want to come back to a cranky person’s house for vacation?

As I pondered this, I came to realize how many of the habits I was missing at the moment had a direct connection to my sense of place… my home. When I’ve gone away on vacation, it’s always been easier to forgo some of my routines because I am simply not in the usual place where they occur. This fact is actually a detriment to some of my good habits that also go out the window when I’m traveling, like eating right. Sigh. But being out of routine in the place where you dwell is naturally unsettling and both our bodies and minds immediately experience dissonance when a familiar environment becomes inhospitable to our habits. This is exactly why changing our bad habits is so hard in the first place. We are conditioned to them and our minds and bodies naturally return to them, especially in times of weakness, stress or sadness. According to Duhigg, “Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allow our minds to ramp down more often.”

Hebrews 12 is one of my favorite scripture passages about the importance of keeping good habits and working to change the bad ones. In verse 11, we find incredible encouragement: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Being watchful of our habits and making tough changes to our routines can only be done through continuous training. I placed this verse on my wall above my computer last year following a major career shift in my life. After 25 years of ingrained work patterns, disciplines, and routines, my productivity was virtually paralyzed without familiar surroundings, expectations, people, or schedules. Knowing that Jesus was working to bring about “a peaceful harvest of right living” inside of me, as the New Living Translation phrases it, sustained me through months and months of feeling like a fish out of water even though I was sitting in my own home office.

Paul goes on to say in verse 12: “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” The Holy Spirit is with us to lift us up, empower us, and give us the endurance to make hard changes and then stick with healthy habits of all kinds, no matter whether they are spiritual, physical, or relational in nature. Paul had firsthand experience with replacing bad habits with new ones. Imagine the changes that he had to make when he abandoned his life as a Jewish persecutor of Christians and became a Christ-follower himself. Every habit, schedule, expectation and routine he possessed needed to change. And when you’re facing a mountain of changes all at once, there’s nothing Satan wants to achieve more than to bring you down and make you feel weak in the knees. That’s when we lift our tired and weary hands regardless of our emotions and sing praises to the One who will always lift our heart and our hands. Psalm 64:10 says to make praise your habit because God is always at work, and Psalm 3:3 says He is the lifter of our heads.

We are promised success when we honor God with our lives as living sacrifices, which is the same thing as turning our daily habits, goals, resources, and time over to Him to direct and manage for His purposes. 1 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” As believers, we have the power inside of us to change any habit and cultivate lives that point to Jesus. I am reminded of this everyday before I exercise. I don’t want to exercise. As a matter of fact, I dread it. Daily. But there’s no room for laziness when committing to a good, but a difficult habit to maintain. If I let just one day go, with the exception of simply being unable to exercise due to something like illness, then I suddenly find that it’s even easier to let the second day slide, and the third day after that… and before I know it, I’ve fallen off the fitness wagon and onto my couch… with a bag of chips. And maybe some Ben & Jerry’s. Not good. Mental habits are no exception to laziness either. As a continually recovering worrier, I must exercise the muscles of my mind every day to avoid sliding into anxiety or negative thoughts. Yes, there are days I fail at exercise and at cultivating a peaceful heart, but deep diving into scripture meditation and prayer are good habits that also act as guardrails to keep me from completely sliding off the cliffs of laziness, complacency, and discouragement.

So I bet you’re still wondering how I avoided turning into Oscar the Grouch with my guests. Well, like any would-be novelist with a strong imagination, I simply pretended. For the last few weeks, at least in my mind, we were all on vacation together at a rental house that I picked out with our specific guests in mind. I still felt somewhat responsible to entertain and accommodate, but I suddenly wanted to do all the things I loved on vacation too, like getting lost in a really good summer novel. I ended up being more relaxed and less bothered by my missing routines.

Now I sit here writing this in an empty house, with one of my favorite afternoon habits — a cup of hot green cinnamon tea. The instrumental music is playing to help me write… everything is quiet and everyone is gone. Back to their jobs, schools, homes… and their own habits and routines. And I am back to mine. Only this time, I have determined to set fresh eyes on my habits with renewed inspiration to make some adjustments. One of my favorite quotes is from David Mathis who wrote Habits of Grace, “Your habits are, in fact, one of the most important things about you. Those repeated actions you take over and over, almost mindlessly, reveal your true self over time as much as anything else.” Being reminded of how powerful my habits are and how important God’s calling should be in my life, has made me realize the very things I don’t usually think about are some of the most critical things to actually spend time thinking about. Taming our habits is certainly not easy, but yielding to the Holy Spirit to help us do it gives us a power that’s even greater than the force of the habits themselves.

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Not Every Good Idea BearS Good Fruit

7/25/2018

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Sometimes an amazing opportunity or idea can appear at what seems like the perfect time and be naturally aligned with your talents, but it turns out to be a mistake after all. Other times, you can have a deep, intuitive feeling of just knowing that it must be the right thing to do, but it can still be a mistake. Whether it’s a big blunder with long-lasting ramifications and or it’s a small, but frustrating one that becomes a complete hassle to get out of later, these kinds of opportunities and ideas often take you by surprise or pop in your head out of the blue, making you inclined to feel like it’s fate or that it’s the hand of God suddenly intervening in your life. It might be a new career path, a volunteer opportunity, a creative idea, a “once in a lifetime” deal on a major purchase, or even a request from someone you admire to serve God.

Any of these incredible possibilities may authentically seem like the right thing to do — without question, analysis or research. And if you were to even think of passing one of them up, one of your friends or co-workers is likely to ask you, “Why would you pass that up? It’s a no-brainer!” So, the pressure mounts both internally and externally to say yes because you don’t want to miss out on something or feel stupid for not accepting the obvious.

I have made these kinds of mistakes repeatedly in different ways and in each instance it usually ends up costing me an unbelievable amount of time, an exhausting level of effort, significant emotional or relational consequences, or unforeseen expenses in a myriad of formats. Many times, I have learned hard but life-changing lessons through these mistakes, but other times I have missed the point entirely and end up doing the same thing all over again. Sigh. A few years ago, for example, I volunteered to serve in a capacity that appeared to be a “no-brainer.” Saying yes also seemed to be so obvious that I didn’t even pause to wonder what the consequences might be if it wasn’t what God wanted me to spend my time on. I just assumed because the opportunity was offered by a visionary and respected leader that it would be the right choice for me. Long story short, it wasn’t. Not even close. And untangling myself from it once I got deeply involved turned out to be next to impossible for quite some time. When it was all over, I couldn’t help but ponder what better tasks God had set aside for me during that time that I had missed out on.

In the classic devotional book My Utmost for Highest, the great theologian Oswald Chambers wrote extensively about learning to live by the Holy Spirit’s guidance and not our own — from the tiniest seemingly inconsequential decisions to the grandest life-altering ones. Because there is no way I can say it better than him, here is a paraphrased passage from the book:

There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. And sometimes God puts a blank in our lives. Don’t ever try to fill in that blank for Him. Wait on Him to fill it. You may think that you see clearly what God’s will is — a certain action or decision — but never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end up making difficulties that will take years of time to make right. Wait for God’s time to bring it around and He will accomplish it without heartbreak or disappointment. Wait for God to move.

Oswald goes on to talk about the Apostle Peter and his behavior in the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter did not wait on Jesus. In his mind, He had already imagined being tested and succeeding, but the reality didn’t play out that way. He vowed to lay down his life for Jesus, but could not fulfill it as he promised because he did not know himself as Jesus truly knew him. Peter’s natural devotion to Jesus out of his own will and emotions wouldn’t be enough to sustain him when his life was threatened.

The same goes for us. Our natural talents, skills and ability to reason will only carry us so far when making a decision about an idea or opportunity. Yes, God gave us a brain to use it, but His intention was that we submit it to Him for shepherding of the thought process. When we move in the Holy Spirit’s leading, versus our own, every gift we possess has the potential to be empowered by Him. We were created in His image and when we operate within His framework any opportunity or idea can be effectively evaluated through His perspective.

Conversely, there are tireless enemies at work to fool us into thinking that we can — and should — think and react on our own. One of these enemies is ourselves when we operate under the influence of pride. We think that we’re smart enough to handle decisions — especially the tiny ones. And that’s exactly when a tiny thing transforms into a giant ogre and knocks us on our butts. The other enemy has been around since the dawn of time. He slithered into the Garden of Eden with the same bag of tricks he uses today. He whispered a great idea in Eve’s ear. A simply tantalizing and very reasonable idea just popped into her head. The element of surprise is a hallmark of how the Enemy works best. The reason this tactic works so well is that we erroneously think that sudden chances must be acted upon quickly. The Enemy works his evil logic best when we feel that we’re under pressure. “Act now or you’ll lose the opportunity,” he whispers in our ears. Or even more insidious, “This idea just presented itself so suddenly, it must be God talking. You had better obey and do it now.”

New flash for us all, myself included: the Holy Spirit is not a high-pressure salesman. God will always give us time to seek Him. News flash number two: God doesn’t normally provide direction through circumstances alone. If life presents you with a great idea or opportunity, the Holy Spirit will work to provide you with confirmation, usually through specific Scriptures, in prayer, and wise counsel. (If you want to read more about how to hear God’s voice, check out my previous blog post on this topic: part 1 and part 2.)

So let’s go back to Peter for a moment and imagine yourself in his shoes on the night before Jesus was crucified. You have physically walked with the Son of God for three years… seen miracles and even performed some yourself. In your flesh, you might have a feeling that you are “all that and a bag of chips.” You are confident of what God can use you for. You are “mature.” And then, the One whom you believe is the Messiah is suddenly taken from you and brutally beaten. Your confidence is shattered and others look at you with accusing stares. Under pressure, logic tells you to deny that you even know Jesus. After all, self-preservation is paramount at this point. And in an instant, you’ve gone from the height of self-admiration to the pit of self-loathing as you watch Jesus being taken to the cross.

But Peter learned — and so can we — that once we get to the end of ourselves, we will find the beginning of the life He actually intends for us. In John 15, Jesus reveals both the key to letting God make the decisions for our lives and the reward of doing so. Verses 4-5, 11, and 13 say: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing … These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full … Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

In this amazing chapter, Jesus foreshadows His coming sacrifice and simultaneously counters Peter’s denial with the command to “lay down his life.” He also explains that when we abide in Him, God’s plan for us will be fulfilled. We will bear good fruit by learning to literally breathe, think and move within the framework of our personal relationship with Him. As we abide, He will prune us. It will hurt. But operating under His influence we will be able to see the purpose in the pain and visualize His dreams for us coming true, i.e. the fruit, and ripening into joyous sweetness and savory satisfaction. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus brilliantly covers all of the decisions we’ll face in life — from the smallest to the biggest of all, self-sacrifice for others.

Peter’s transformation after the resurrection gives us all clarity into who we can be if we base our decisions on Jesus’s knowledge of who we are and what’s best for us, rather than our own interpretation and reliance on ourselves. We must determine to reach the end of ourselves and our self-sufficiency in order to realize that there is not a strand of ourselves to rely on again. In that utterly destitute place, we become completely fit to be used by God and receive the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and direction.

Charles E. Hummel in his little booklet Tyranny of the Urgent said, “But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency—independence from the rule of God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is actually a ‘going it alone’?”

Our natural devotion, abilities, talents, reason and imagination are not enough to bear true spiritual fruit. And if we manage our priorities and make our decisions without taking the proper time — whether it’s a moment or many days — to seek His direction and confirmation, then we will always be straining to produce fake fruit. It might vaguely resemble fruit in some saccharin or plastic kind of way, and we might feel satisfied for a while. But only ideas, opportunities, work and service generated while abiding in Christ will blossom and produce eternity-changing fruit and authentic joyful fulfillment.
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Every Cloud of Worry Has A Silver Lining of HopE

7/11/2018

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Every now and then we wake up to a different world from the night before. When we went to bed yesterday evening, things might have been normal, stable, or even occasionally boring. But upon rising the next day, we wake to find out someone or something has changed suddenly, forever altering the course of their lives, ours, or both. A phone call you would never want to receive. A breaking newscast you would never want to see. A routine doctor’s visit that turns into an unexpected concern. A heated or hurtful disagreement with a trusted co-worker, friend or family member. It’s these kinds of upheavals that shake us out of our comfort zones, reveal our delusions, and threaten to create fissures in our faith.

In every one of life’s disturbing moments, we have the opportunity to view everything that happens through the lens of a belief in a sovereign and loving God, or through our own human perspective. Of course, the problem that confronts every single one of us — from pastors to atheists — is our humanity itself. The human experience is all we naturally know or can understand. It is all we can physically see, touch, and manipulate. Sure, for some, an experience with the supernatural occurs. For others, a belief that miracles are possible comes more easily. But for the vast majority of people, we are indelibly marked with the limitations of our physical existence and struggle mightily to trust a God we cannot see during times of suffering, waiting on the unknown, grief, or extreme disappointment.

Ironically, what we each struggle with the most can vary wildly from person to person, yet the ultimate effects on our faith and trust are universally similar. One person may be the most shaken by a health crisis, but weathers extreme financial hardship with relative ease. Another may worry excessively about relationships and pleasing others, but doesn’t fret a moment about going through a job layoff. Yet no matter what particular issue scares you or worries you the most, the challenge is the same: how to trust God and effectively receive His supernatural peace and contentment in any type of hardship or struggle.

Our Natural Inclinations Deceive Us
Perhaps most disheartening is when we think we’ve made progress in our greatest area of "trust weakness,”and then our world is shaken in a way that sends us back to the edge of a downward spiral of doubt, fear, worry and future-tripping. “But, God, I thought I was past this,” we often plead in prayer. And this is it — this is the big moment. This is the place where we are at the most pivotal and potentially amazing point in our journey of faith. Sadly, though, many of us pivot the wrong way. The way we are naturally inclined to go… deep into a pit. Our biological capacity to reason, analyze, speculate, and wonder starts literally screaming at us. Humans do not tolerate the unknown or discomfort easily. The mind is inclined to nag and nag until it can find relief or determine the answer. And because it’s all we physically know, it simply feels like the right action to take. So the pit of worry, despair, anger or discontentment is often lined with shelves stocked with counterfeit “products” promising comfort and peace, like denial, over analysis, future-tripping, wallowing in the past, over-eating and junk food indulgence, drinking too much, gossiping, working too much, and whatever else seems to make us feel temporarily better or helps us forget about our problems.

And there’s one additional thing that bombards us during difficult times — temptation. The enemy of God knows that when we are at the pivot point in times of crisis, we are prime targets to be tempted by false comforts and counterfeit peace. And if he can use any of those tricks to hook us for long-term, then he’ll do it. So if these pivot points represent such great danger, why does God allow them in our lives? If He is sovereign and loves us, why doesn’t He always and instantly flood us physically with His supernatural peace and contentment instead of permitting us to struggle with finding it during times of hardship and mental distress?

Natural Creation vs. the New Creation
Put simply, it’s because our loving Father wants us to learn to pivot toward Him and away from the natural inclinations we have toward the pit. Yes, of course, He could supernaturally turn us toward Him. And there are times where that will happen in life. But He created us with a free will to choose to turn to Him. We can choose to trust Him and love Him… or not. The Bible makes it clear that God created us in His image to have fellowship with Him, not to be robots who only love Him because we have to do so. And this is the paradox of the gift of free will: we can choose to remain in our naturally flawed sinful human state, or we can pursue His promise that when we pivot toward Him we will be a new creation as promised in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The trouble with our perspective is that we can only see through the eyes of natural creation. It is not possible to experience the reward of supernatural peace and contentment without first making the choice to pivot toward being a new creation. This is why Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:1 that the essence of faith is believing in something we cannot see. Our natural state wants instant gratification. We want to feel the promised peace before we take the risk of trusting. God says we need to make the choice to trust Him, obey what He has asks us to do (i.e. not to worry), and THEN He’ll shower us with the supernatural peace and contentment we need to endure the hardship, learn from the experience, grow in our faith, and then love others by helping them through similar struggles. Later in that same chapter of Hebrews, Paul gives detailed examples of faith put into action before the actual promises were fulfilled. From Abraham leaving his homeland to Rahab courageously putting her life on the line for strangers, we are assured that God’s promises are always fulfilled, even when we can’t see or fathom how with our own minds.

Temptations and Promises are Mirror Images of Each Other
I don’t think a single one of us would give into the temptation of worry, anger, bitterness, resentment, despair, etc., if we could experience the real consequences of those sins BEFORE we choose to give in. Even though a temptation may be familiar, it will always be enticing because it appears to offer relief, peace, comfort or pleasure. And our natural minds gravitate toward anything that provides instant gratification versus hard work. Temptations are Satan’s counterfeits of God’s promises. And just like God’s promises, the real impact of indulging in those temptations can’t be experienced before we actually commit the sin. Of course, the real impact of God’s promises is always for our good. The real impact of sin is always to our detriment. Temptations — whether they come from within ourselves or from Satan — are designed to lure us without any resistance and obscure the consequences. That is the very nature of their structure and intention. God’s promises are designed to teach us to love Him better and they clearly declare the rewards of doing so. In either case — temptation or promise — we don’t experience the ultimate outcome until we’ve actually committed the act.

God Gives Us Choices in Order to Bless Us
There is no greater love than what our Father has for us. He gave up a part of Himself in the person of Jesus to ensure that we can make a choice for eternity with Him forever. We can freely choose to love Him, and the more we learn to love Him, the more we will experience glimpses of our eternal home while we’re here on earth. Jesus said we will have trials of many kinds, but every single one of them —without fail — comes with a choice and a promise for those who pivot in the right direction. I’ve pivoted into the pit countless times. And usually it’s the same pit over and over and over. I am sick and tired of that pit. But each time I choose to pivot away from the pit — even if it’s just for a few minutes, a few days, or even months at a time — the Holy Spirit’s guidance, peaceful presence, and empowerment in my life becomes more consistent. Sometimes, my natural mind doesn’t see the spiritual improvement, it easily forgets how far I’ve come, and reverts back to the old creation in a heartbeat. But the grace of Jesus is boundless and incomprehensible. And He always wants me back.

King David pivoted into pits. A lot. And yet the Bible calls him “a man after God’s own heart.” He said in Psalm 40:2, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” This is a promise you and I can bank on. There’s no need to spend time blaming yourself when you revert back into a familiar pit. Instead, kick Satan’s guilt and incrimination to the curb, and give a freedom cry at the top of your lungs, “I have a choice to be free of (fill in the blank), and I choose to love and trust Jesus in this moment.” Believe me, you may find yourself asking for forgiveness for not trusting God many times over. The Holy Spirit will certainly convict your heart to make you aware of that sin, but He will never, ever make you feel guilty for coming back to Him.

Jesus Stood at the Edge of the Pit Too
Trusting in the unseen rewards of God’s promises is hard with human eyes. Jesus never denied that, in fact He was sympathetic to our plight and confirmed His compassion for us over and over while He walked the earth. Even He struggled to the point of sweating drops of blood the night before He was arrested by soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have a loving Father that has experienced what it’s like to be human in the most excruciating circumstances. The pit Jesus stood on the edge of was the greatest chasm in human history. So next time you’re facing suffering, waiting, and hardships of any kind, arm yourself to pivot away from the pit. God gives us the tools we need to learn and grow if we choose to use them. There is nothing that can come at us, that He doesn’t intimately understand and empathize with. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” In context, this means that when we operate in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, He will give us eyes to see what we cannot, if we believe. Through prayer, studying and memorizing God’s Word, and meditating on His Truths, we become stronger and smarter with each choice we make. None of this means, however, that the pits won’t continue to pop up throughout our lives, but it does mean that we will gradually become more like Jesus was in His ability to overcome them.

The courage to face our fears and pivot from life's pits is best summed up by the end of Romans Chapter 8. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Amen indeed.
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