“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Matthew 24:42-44
If you are a parent, or even a supervisor of others at work, you can relate so well to Jesus already. You work day in and day out to show those who look to you for guidance how to live, work and even play. Through your love, your willingness to give up other things to serve them, your confidence, counseling and teaching you hope all that you share sinks in deeply.
And then you turn your back for a minute.
I was listening to the Talk It Out podcast the other day. It’s three friends who discuss the teachings of Joyce Meyer. This particular episode found them doing their first Covid-19 distanced podcast. One of the women shared how the day prior, when they were practicing how the podcast would actually work, she set up her two kids in the bedroom with snacks and a movie. She then went to another room for privacy. Everything was perfect. The kids had what they needed and were properly admonished.
Partway through the run-through her daughter interrupted the proceedings. As the mom turned to see what caused the interruption all she saw was a massacre. At least that’s what it appeared to be. Her young daughter had somehow gotten a hold of red nail polish and had painted her entire feet and hands. And the white bedspread.
When asking her slightly older son what happened he replied unabashedly, “I dunno, she needed me to open it so I did.”
Jesus spent three intense years teaching, showing, guiding and yet even His closest disciples struggled to model Him. And we sit here about 2,000 years later, with our red nail polish spilled all over our guidebook. Oops.
The thing about the red nail polish on the sheets is it never completely comes out. It leaves a pink stain, as the mom found out. She sat night after night staring at it. But thankfully, each time we fail to live up to the lessons of Jesus we can come with our stained hands and hearts and ask for forgiveness. We are washed white as snow.
We need to get up off our knees and try it again. We turn to Him and say, “show me, teach me.” Because He will come back into the room with us to see how well we have lived out His example.
Join me for my next series, “Jesus Mindset,” where we break down the different characteristics of Jesus and how we can live them out. We will all get them wrong at different points but God always holds out his hand to lift us up and dust us off.
…yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.Habakkuk 3:18
According to Psychology Today we make an average of 35,000 decisions each day. That’s about 2,000 decisions per waking hour. I remember when I was working as a public relations and marketing executive at a mid-sized company. At the end of each day I felt exhausted. I couldn’t even think about what to make for dinner. I realized at some point I had decision-making fatigue.
So many of our decisions are ones we don’t really think much about – if we are going to get up and go to work, if we are going to brush our teeth before leaving the house, if we are going to get dressed. We just sort of do them out of habit or necessity.
But what about our faith lives? How many of us have, along our journey, made the decision to fade away from our faith? Not realizing we’ve made a decision to shut out God. For some people, because of issues at their church or maybe a difficult time in their life they actually made a conscious decision to completely turn away.
There are basically three types of people shown in the Bible. First there is the nonspiritual person who has not accepted God at all. Second there is the person who has accepted Jesus as their savior but still lives by the world’s expectations. And third is what is considered a “mature believer.” This person learns to do the will of God no matter how he/she feels or how difficult it is.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.1 Corinthians 13:11
This is where the term “baby Christian” arises. It’s the second type person described. Picture how a baby lives its life. Crying and throwing a tantrum when things get uncomfortable. Babies are very self-focused people. They don’t care if you haven’t slept all night or exhausted from a long day at work. They want, they need, they demand. If they don’t get it, they aren’t happy. They live off feelings and wants and needs. It may sound harsh, but how many of us are living our Christian lives this way?
No matter what level we are on, we should want to grow , but if we find we are still in the baby stage of Christianity, we should certainly make a commitment to God to start working with His Holy Spirit toward maturity.
That’s why I like the verse from Habakkuk today. Prior to verse 18 the prophet lists all the things that are going wrong – the fig tree isn’t budding, there’s no grapes, the olive crop is failing, and there’s no livestock. Yet he will rejoice.
Great faith is maturing faith. Great faith is growing faith. And great faith is becoming stronger and great faith is standing on the truth of the Word of God. Not feelings, not other people’s opinions, not the past, great faith stands on the truth of the Word of God. Here’s what God is saying. And the focus is on God. Great faith is always focused on God.
Charles Stanley
And growing faith means choosing to be faithful. We humans don’t tend to like to be the cause of our problems. We want our lack of commitment to God to be about something that happened to us, an absence of the right feelings, or because of the world’s demands. But it’s really about where we have placed so many of our 35,000 decisions. In how many of them did we even consider God’s desires for us?
When you feel like quitting or running away, remember that you can’t run away from your troubles and you can’t run away from yourself. The solution is not running away; it’s running to. It’s running to the throne of grace and finding grace to help in time of need.
Take the time today to consider your decision making and how it relates to your commitment to God. Sometimes we are tasked to just decide to run to Him – not waiting for a feeling or some grand emotion to well up inside us. If we can make the decision to get up and go to work today or the decision to do the laundry or get the kids off to school we can make the decision to open our Bible. We can make the decision to have a conversation with Jesus.
Most of the 35,000 decisions we make today will be for the world of the flesh. How many can we carve out to be the ones that matter for all of eternity?
For this reason I remind you to
fan into flame the gift of God,
which is in you through the laying
on of my hands.2 Timothy 1:6
I remember the day I got baptized. I was 34 years old and at the same time my one year old and 5 year old received the Holy water. I remember standing on that stage full of the spirit of God. My heart was full. I was ready to jump in with both feet.
As a person trained in marketing and public relations, I decided a good place for me to volunteer at my new church was on the growth committee. The church membership had shrunk over the years and they were looking to reach out into the community. After four months of detailed work, we finally had the plan. And by “plan” I mean the plan and bylaws of how the committee would work. I was so dispirited.
My friend invited our family to come worship at her church which was the same denomination but was very large and vibrant. We loved it! My spirits soared again as I watched my kids get involved in various church groups and my husband volunteered as an usher. And then I flatlined. Attending church became something we tried to fit into our schedule. My faith life outside church was non-existent.
We gotta get our faith stirred up again! If I was just running on excitement, I would’ve run out of gas a long time ago. Once the excitement of God is over, real men and women of God kick into faithfulness.
Joyce Meyer
We get tired of the “doing” in our everyday lives – making the bed, doing the dishes, going to work, brushing our teeth. But we still do it or else we become destitute. Some of us have become destitute in our faith because the excitement is gone. We all probably remember when we accepted Jesus as our savior or were baptized. It was exciting! And now, the day-to-day life has settled in. We need to keep “doing” our faith because we are assigned the work of God.
When I was thinking of this concept, I thought of my favorite college basketball team (Go Aztecs!). In March 2020 they were a powerhouse team, set to go to the NCAA tournament. My husband and I had gone to a lot of the home games. The SDSU Aztec games are well known for the influence of their fans. We can really rock the Mesa and spur our boys on! And in March 2021 we couldn’t go to any games. It felt weird watching on tv without the excitement of being able to high five strangers when one of the players hit an amazing three-pointer. It just wasn’t the same. So, our faithfulness of watching games waned. I’m sorry to say we didn’t even watch their NCAA tournament game. We had better things to do.
But the difference between being a fan of a team and follower of Jesus is the Aztecs, once a game was over and we all went home, didn’t know my name. They didn’t care to know me at all. Sure, they appreciated the support but they didn’t ride home with me. Except for the mailing list our name is on to ask us for money, our favorite team, that brings us so much fun and excitement, goes about their own lives not thinking of me once.
But after we commit ourselves to the Lord and experience that wave of excitement, He stays with us. He is with us when we don’t think about Him during our busy day. He is with us when we forget about Him completely. He is waiting for us to go to work for Him. He is waiting for us to turn to Him.
Guard the good deposit that was
entrusted to you—guard it with
the help of the Holy Spirit who
lives in us.2 Timothy 1:14
Last year I found myself a Christian without a church. And at first, I thought that meant my faith would become destitute again. I turned to God and said, “What now?” And He answered, “It’s time to truly grow.”
I had been relying on outside entities to stir up my excitement for God. To fan my flames for Jesus. When all along He was sitting there next to me waiting to build a bonfire together.
A few studies ago my BSGs were tasked to draw their faith journey as a graph. I’m happy to report we have all had steady growth. It was amazing to see how, in the time where we were all without “church,” our charts showed an upward movement. When we were stripped down to our lives being so simple because of the Covid pandemic God invited us to His campfire. And we all accepted the invitation.
For many of us our churches have re-opened. And the celebration of the beauty of the resurrection is in our rearview mirror. We need to ask ourselves are we expecting an outside source to fan our flames for God or will we turn and join Him at the campfire?
Do your best to present yourself to
God as one approved, a worker who
does not need to be ashamed and who
correctly handles the word of truth.2 Timothy 2:15
When I quit working full time about 25 years ago, it was hard for me to accept that I no longer contributed financially to our little family. My identity was wrapped up in working. I had earned money since I was a kid collecting cans and newspapers and turning them into the recycler. In college at one point, I had a job, a paid internship, a full load of classes, and was the president of a professional-based club. Work was what I knew and work was what defined me.
Not long after I decided to stay home with our 2-year old daughter I found myself face-to-face with my identity problem. My daughter and I were walking home from a neighborhood park. We had to cross a very busy street. When we got the “walk” sign we made our way across in the crosswalk. In one of the cars waiting for the light to change was an obviously very angry and impatient man. He yelled out the window to me, “Hey loser, why don’t you get a job?”
Instead of being angry I was mortified. You see, I agreed with him. I wasn’t seeing myself as first a mother and wife then someone who could, if I wanted to, get a job. I saw myself first as a jobless loser.
What do you see yourself as first these days?
As my faith journey has progressed my answer to that question has evolved. Once my second daughter came along, I threw myself into motherhood. I even placed being a wife much farther down the list for a bit. Being a Christian was way down on the list. In between I was a “coach,” a “PTA president,” a “school volunteer,” a “Girl Scout leader.” And now, looking back, had I placed “Christian” as my primary identity I would’ve made a number of different choices along the way.
Just because you go to church doesn’t mean you’re a Christian. I can go sit in the garage all day and it doesn’t make me a car.
Joyce Meyer
I love this quote by Joyce Meyer because it speaks to the heart of this issue of identity. We may say what our identity is but how do we act? What do we base our decisions on day in and day out? Do we decide what’s best for our kids based on their happiness or based on God’s direction? Do we treat our spouses based on where we place our marriage on our identity list or on God’s expectation of us? Do we hold dear the income from that job more than we do our relationship with our Lord?
It’s taken me awhile to truly accept the identity hierarchy God wants for me – 1) Jesus Follower 2) Wife 3) Mother 4) Whatever else He directs me to. And in our verse today the priority for us is to be a “God Approved Worker for Him.” Not ashamed of following His Word as best we can in every decision we make.
I used to listen to the famed Dr. Laura quite a lot. One day she was talking about divorce. She said that if you go into a marriage with the option of getting divorced you will always find reasons to not work on your marriage. But if you go into it (having made a healthy choice of spouse) with the priority of staying together no matter what, you will always find new and creative ways to work out problems. Our faith is a lot like that.
When we place our faith as our primary identity it changes who we marry, who we spend time with, what type of job we want, how we use our money, how we treat our families and friends, and more. We are God’s co-workers. And we are tasked with being proud of that identity.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,
stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always
give yourselves fully to the work of the
Lord, because you know that your labor in
the Lord is not in vain.1 Corinthians 15:58
So again, I ask, what identity have you placed at the top of your list?
If it’s not “Christian” why not? What’s holding you back? God is waiting for you to put Him first. Because when you do then, I believe, He claps His hands and says, “Great, now let’s get down to business!”
This is a great except from C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity that might help spur you on to your new identity.
“Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self—in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.”
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is
my helper; I will not be afraid. What
can mere mortals do to me?”Hebrews 13:6
There’s been a number of times in my life when I felt all alone. In high school the neighbor girl who I had been friends with since I was in fourth grade rejected me. The kids I hung out with at school always treated me as an outsider, never inviting me over to game nights and other fun group activities. I wasn’t a nerd, athlete, druggie, ASB, drama, or whatever type person we think of when we remember our high school years. I was friendly with people in all groups but never a part of a group.
I could’ve really used Jesus.
I was listening to a great podcast recently called, “Talk It Out.” It’s an offshoot of the Joyce Meyer Ministry where three women of various stages of life take Mrs. Meyer’s teachings and work on applying it to their everyday lives. On that day they were talking about different times they’d felt alone. And I realized that probably every single one of us have felt that way at some point or multiple points in our lives. Some of you might feel that way right now.
One of the ladies spoke of when, in high school, she kept Jesus close to her at all times. Her only true friend. She would even talk to Him in the car as though He were a constant companion in her passenger seat.
One who has unreliable friends soon
comes to ruin, but there is a friend
who sticks closer than a brother.Proverbs 18:24
I can’t tell you with 100% accuracy that this proverb speaks of God. But I can tell you that God is 100% that friend who is “closer than a brother.” And when we feel alone and as though our faith journey is stuck, we need only turn to Jesus and say, “Hello.” If you are in a season that you feel alone, left out, far from any quality friendships – including God– it’s time to call to Him with all your heart.
It reminds me of when Mary, having seen the empty tomb, stands outside crying. She must’ve felt very alone at the time. When Jesus appears to her, she thinks He is the gardener and demands to know where he moved the body. And Jesus simply says to her, “Mary.” She turns to Him and suddenly recognizes Him and grabs hold of Him, crying out “Rabboni!” My favorite part of this is the fact the text is written like this in the NIV and King James version – “Mary.” No exclamation. He doesn’t yell out to her. It feels so quiet and gentle and personal. “Mary.”
Now imagine yourself standing there thinking God has let you down. He’s allowed the worst thing that could ever happen to actually happen. And you cry out. He responds. Standing right in front of you with a gentle, loving word.
Instead of saying with proud lip, “Well, if He leaves me I must do without Him, if I cannot have His comfortable presence I must fight on as best may be,” the soul says, “No, it is my very life, I must have my God.”
Charles Spurgeon
And with that renewed friendship we can add to our request of God, “Help me to find reliable friendships here on earth.” He may convict of you of your own sins or thinking. Rest assured when you sit with Him over coffee, while on your commute, or at a quiet lunch at the park, He will be the most honest friend you could ever desire.
The righteous choose their friends
carefully, but the way of the wicked
leads them astray.Proverbs 12:26
For me, I needed Jesus for a friend in high school as a companion – I was an oddball, a square peg and all the holes were round. And later, I needed Jesus as that friend who would speak truth into me to show me why I didn’t have close friends, why I’d been rejected so often. He showed me that my need to control the people around me was not a desirable attribute in a friend. I was quick to anger and judgement. And selfish ways pushed people away.
Sometimes when I think about what our lives are like today, I like to imagine what it would’ve been like living as a pioneer woman. Living a lonely life with just my husband and two kids out on the prairie. No texting, no Instagram. Barely any mail even. Where would I find friendship? In my days of harvesting and cooking and cleaning I would need to seek out the only person my Bible told me would be with me always – Jesus.
That was true then and it’s still true today. Friends we had 10 years ago may not even be part of our lives. Friends we meet today may fade away. So, it’s imperative we hold close to our hearts our one constant, our friend, our counselor, our Rock – our Lord.
Season all your grain offerings
with salt.Leviticus 2:13
About a year ago my husband and I decided to combine our plans of getting fit at the gym with changing what we ate for dinner. We decided to try out a couple meal delivery services. Now, let me first say my husband is an incredible cook – creative and eager to try new dishes. So whatever plan we chose would have to meet his high standards.
As we made the various meals we discovered some of the “tricks of the trade” of how to make meals have that extra “pop” of flavor. And the most basic trick was seasoning with salt and pepper throughout the cooking process. It was amazing how much better our food tasted when we seasoned at the beginning, middle and end. Salt is so simple yet it somehow releases the intricate flavors of whatever dish it’s added to.
Do not leave the salt of the covenant
of your God out of your grain offerings;
add salt to all your offerings.Leviticus 2:13
And throughout the Bible we are encouraged, or as in Leviticus, admonished, to add salt to our offerings to God and to our work for God.
Let your conversation be always full
of grace, seasoned with salt, so that
you may know how to answer everyone.Colossians 4:6
But what does this mean in our daily faith lives? Adding salt to our conversations means making sure our work of sharing the gospel is pure and properly seasoned – with grace and love. In other places in the Bible we see salt as something added to make our lives more pleasing to God.
My BSGs had a conversation once about memorizing scripture and prayers – an admirable activity for sure. But when our faith life becomes a series of memorized verse or monotonous prayers we can lose our saltiness. We lose the passion and uniqueness of our special relationship with God.
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness,
how can it be made salty again?"Luke 14:34
So how do we regain that beautiful flavor in our relationship with Him? Ask. It’s funny how so often when we struggle with faith issues we forget to do the one thing that works the best – ask Him. “Show me, Lord, how to reignite and bring passion to my relationship with you!” He might show you a new way to pray, a new book to read, a new song to sing, a new Christian friend, or a new place in your home to mediate.
The Holy Spirit is waiting to be tapped for answers. It’s like He is jumping up and down with His hand up going, “Oooooo! Ask Me! Ask Me!”
Average is very acceptable in our society but I don’t think the angels are applauding. If you are determined to be excellent, to not back out of it, you will reap a harvest in your life.
Joyce Meyer
Let’s start flavoring our faith life at the beginning, middle and end of our day with salt, with passion, with grace, and with intentionality. Let’s dine with our Savior and feast on the grace He gives us.
Life Lesson #9: Christians are in the job of changing hearts and saving souls.
Perhaps this is the reason he was
separated from you for a while,
so that you might have him back
forever, no longer as a slave but
more than a slave, a beloved
brother—especially to me but how
much more to you, both in the
flesh and in the Lord.Philemon 1:15-16
When I was in college, I was approached by two missionaries on campus. I believed in God, to an extent, but didn’t know anything about Him or Jesus. I asked the typical questions – “Why does God allow bad things to happen to people” and “Why did He give us free will instead of just making us all good people?” I’m sorry to say they couldn’t give me even a best guess. I wonder if you were tasked with talking to a friend about Jesus would you be ready with passable answers to these questions?
I heard a talk by Joyce Meyer the other day where she took up the question of why evil things continuously happen in the world. She’s seen some pretty bad situations in all of her world-wide missionary work. She prayed this question one day. The answer she got back was, “I’m waiting on my people to obey me and take care of each other.”
The righteous know the rights of
the poor; the wicked have no such
understanding.Proverb 29:7
I’m currently doing a study that takes me through the entire Bible. It’s fascinating to see in Leviticus how sin offerings are adjusted for the poor. Even thousands of years ago God was making sure the downtrodden were taken care of. But notice you won’t find in the Bible that the Israelites or Christians are told to take up arms to eliminate poverty. Verse after verse we are tasked to do one thing with the poor – to help them.
In Joppa there was a disciple named
Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas);
she was always doing good and
helping the poor.Acts 9:36
As social justice issues go, the poor are always on the lips of “social justice warriors.” Their desire appears to be to eliminate poverty and all social injustice via legislation, protests or even through violence. But as Christians we are shown a different approach. Take the issue of slavery, as discussed in the letter from Paul to Philemon. The subject is the slave Onesimus. Notice in the introductory verse that Paul does not chastise or demand of Philemon the release of his slave. Paul, instead, appeals to faith principles. He reminds Philemon that as a faithful follower of Jesus our hearts and therefore, our minds are changed.
“To me, a follower of Jesus means a friend of man. A Christian is a philanthropist by profession, and generous by force of grace; wide as the reign of sorrow is the stretch of his love, and where he cannot help he pities still.”
Charles Spurgeon
By teaching slave owners about the power and love and salvation found in following Jesus, the disciples were slowly changing the hearts and then minds of people who, not only owned slaves, but behaved in any number of sinful ways. The new Christian is tasked with living in a new loving and giving nature.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
the new creation has come: The old
has gone, the new is here!2 Corinthians 5:17
Had the disciples come into new cities preaching about abolishing slavery (let’s remember too that slavery in that time was mostly more like indentured servitude) they certainly would’ve been met with resistance. Slaves were costly commodities – just as they were in the early years of the United States. To preach that people had to give up much of their wealth in order to follow Jesus would not have been as successful as first telling of the Good News.
Last year, I watched as protests and violence broke out in cities across the United States by self-professed social justice warriors. To be honest, at times I wasn’t even sure what some of it was about. In Portland, Oregon, the young people rioting just seemed to hate everyone. It was a perfect time for the church to rise up and do what we should do best – show love and help change hearts. I hoped and prayed that in communities hit by violence that God’s people would come together and form prayer chains around the cities – enveloping it in God’s love. Instead, I watched as pastors led more protests and took to microphones and megaphones yelling about injustice, pointing fingers at different races.
“It is easier to make laws than to make Christians, but the business of the church is to produce Christians and everything else is a by-product of that new creation.”
Vance Havner
The people of Jesus’ time expected a Messiah to come and bring justice. They wanted punishment of those who had wronged them. They wanted to see governments and whole groups of people destroyed. But Jesus was not that kind of social justice warrior. From town-to-town He cared about one thing – changing people’s hearts. He did out-of-the-box things like sit with sinners, touch the leper, heal on the Sabbath, talk with the outcasts. He brought the bread of life and the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks
this water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks the water I give them
will never thirst. Indeed, the water
I give them will become in them a
spring of water welling up to eternal
life.” John 4:13-14
How amazing would it have been if, when our churches closed down in March 2020, they instead remained open. Not just open but open 24 hours a day with a sign out on the street that said, “Need someone to talk to? We’re always open and ready to listen.” I know this idea is radical. And you’re probably thinking of all the reasons why your church can’t do this. But the work of Jesus and His apostles was radical. So is the work of every Christian you probably admire.
“Behave at them.”
Ken Blanchard
As Christians we are not tasked to be worldly “social justice warriors.” We are commissioned to be God’s soldiers. When we are tempted to join a protest march and carry a sign we should first think how we can directly help those for whom we are marching. God’s plan for the world will only be accomplished through our active showing of love, grace, charity, and forgiveness of others — while espousing His truth. The spreading of the message of Jesus brings the changes we so long for – maybe just not as fast as we like. He designed us this way.
I do get outraged by many things going on in the world. And then I remember to pray to God for peace in my heart so that I can listen for my marching orders. When I feel overwhelmed by the problems we face, I remember that God works out-of-the-box in radical ways. It’s up to me and it’s up to you to be in the heart changing business when God puts opportunities right in front of us. We will always find ourselves on the right side of “He who is most important” when we obey God.
The Apostle Paul worked on one rich, slave owner at a time. And over time, our Christian faith has led to a world-wide abolishment of sanctioned slavery. What small step can you do today to help change one heart?
For we are God’s masterpiece.
He has created us anew in
Christ Jesus, so we can do
the good things he planned
for us long ago.Ephesians 2:10
A prayer to love myself
Heavenly Father, so many of my perceived short falls come from my poor sense of self-worth. I look in the mirror sometimes and to be honest I don’t always see what you see – a beautifully, wonderfully made daughter of God. And I confess that my lack of love for your creation can spill over to my inability to openly love others without judgment. But I don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit any longer. My heart, body, mind and soul were created by and belong to you, LORD. With the reminders found in your Holy Word to love my neighbor as myself I will look into that mirror with newfound love and admiration for your creation. Thank you for my life, thank you for making me uniquely me. I lift this up in Jesus’ name, Amen
I sat and listened to her tell me how she feels unworthy, unlovable, lacking talent and more. It made me so sad because she was none of these. What made me even sadder was I realized I’ve frequently thought the same about myself. I look in the mirror and think, “You look old, unattractive, chubby, wrinkly – very non cover of Vogue-like.” And then I turn to my closet and evaluate which clothes will fit me that day. Tearing myself down for gaining those few extra pounds. And the piece d’ resistance? Wondering if what I’m going to accomplish that day will be of any value.
I was listening to a pastor the other day who was in the middle of a series on committing our whole bodies – heart, mind and soul – to God. She went on to talk about how when we struggle with self-worth it affects everything about our lives. If we get into a mild argument with our spouse, we might believe they obviously think we are stupid or worthless simply because they disagree with our opinion. We grasp for people outside ourselves to build us up but when they do, we don’t always trust their motives.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my
mother’s womb. I praise you
because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;your works are
wonderful,I know that full well.Psalm 139:13-14
How many of us can truly say, “I know that full well?” We easily quote scripture proclaiming that God loves us. But do we really believe it?
Some of us were fortunate to grow up in loving homes which shot us out into the world with a great sense of belonging and love. That sense gets attacked regularly by the world. And those of those who didn’t start out that way also experience those attacks of the world. It’s no wonder, starting from a lack of a filled bucket, that so many of us plunge into self-destruction and self-loathing.
When, during a particularly difficult time of false self-evaluation, I looked in the mirror and realized how dishonoring I was being to God. And that if I could just start with the acknowledgement that God made me and knows me then maybe, just maybe I could grow to love me just as He does.
We must rest in the glory and amazing work of God in order to fully be His warriors. That starts with us. No matter your thick or thin hair, your smooth skin or wrinkles, your short or tall stature, your past, the job you have (or don’t), your ability to arrange flowers or pick the perfect wall color, your knowledge about science or the humanities, God loves you. He loves me. I am wonderfully and beautifully made. I just need to keep telling that to the girl in the mirror.
If you want this too, add the prayer to your daily prayer list and watch and see how God works in your life!
Although controversial to some, I credit evangelist Joyce Meyer with the jumpstart to my transformation from “baby Christian” to a maturing one. Why? The day I broke down and said to God, “Why am I still so unhappy? Why can’t I experience joy and peace in my life?” He admonished me and asked, “What have you really done?” Yes, He really did say that, out loud, twice. I landed on my knees and asked Him to direct me. I knew that I hadn’t been “all in.” My first step was to go and buy a devotional. As I stood in front of the many books I prayed, “God, tell me which is the one I need right now.” And that’s how I ended up with Ms. Meyer’s book, Power Thoughts.
“Power Thought: My thoughts are not hidden from God. I know I can change with His help.”
The reason it spoke to me is that it focused on that tiny part of me that ends up ruling everything about my life – my thoughts. At the time, I proudly wore a badge of pessimism. I was constantly outraged, angry, hurt or sad. And yet on the outside my life was truly blessed. I needed to attack the devil living inside my head with the power of God (Psalms 139:23).
Words are extremely powerful. They can hurt and heal. They can tear down and build up. They can cause fear and joy. With words we can complain or comfort. And what is prayer but words?
I’ve been challenged to create a list of statements about my life as God sees it (Isaiah 55:8). It’s not a list of what I’m like right now. It’s not a New Year’s resolution list. It’s a list of prayers, based on the Word of God, of what I will be and have in my life with God’s intervention.
Power of Positive Thinking – Mayo Clinic
“Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.
If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.”
This may sound a bit “new age” – and it’s true that a list of positive changes in our lives that we decide to just talk about may never come to fruition. But as Christians we have the transformational power of prayer at our fingertips (James 5:16). And our challenge will be to not only listen to the Holy Spirit for guidance but to then pray daily those changes.
It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition.
Oswald Chambers
So, get out a new sheet of paper and join me as we create our transformation list January 11-29. A transformation into mature Jesus followers. A transformation into the people God truly wants us to be. Because up until now, what have you truly done to walk fully in the life He wants for you?
As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
Luke 24:16-26
Depending on how Messianic scholars classify the prophesies in the Old Testament about the coming of Jesus, you will find between 200 and more than 400 statements about the Son of God becoming a man to teach us and be our ultimate sacrifice. Given that information, which was taught throughout the Jewish faith, you have to wonder why anyone at the time of Jesus’ death didn’t understand what was going on. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that He would also be resurrected. Yet disciple after disciple, woman and man, we see either their disbelief or shocking amazement when Jesus stood with them after His death.
But we can’t be too hard on those people of old. I mean we have 1,000s of years of Bible study, the hindsight of the entire New Testament, and more Bible scholars and preachers than we could ever count explaining the connections and the truths of this amazing story. And yet so many of us, even Christians, have a hard time truly accepting that Jesus is with us, even today. He stands in front of us with an open hand almost pleading with us to surrender and follow Him. He stands next to us, holding our hand, as we take scary, daring steps of faith. And He stands watch over us guiding and protecting us. When we fully accept that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we can feel His constant, amazing presence.
I heard a sermon the other day by Joyce Meyer called, “What is Faith?” In it she encourages those whose families are grown and left the nest, who have lost spouses, who feel as though no one loves them, to grasp on to the knowledge that Jesus is ever-present in our lives. He is with us when we go to the grocery store. He is with us when we sit and watch a sunset. He is with us when we lie down, alone, in our beds.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 18:22-23
When we read the verses today in Luke 24, we might gloss over the fact that Jesus had already died. What happened on that road to Emmaus could have just as easily been written today. There was nothing special about the two men to which Jesus appeared. They are you and me. We can leave church or a Bible study waxing philosophical about the amazing presence of Jesus “way back when” and completely miss that He is walking right there with us!
I once heard a woman in a Bible study say to the group, “How come God doesn’t talk to us like He did in the Bible?” I found it fascinating that this person has somehow missed the prolific authors who have received urgings and messages from the Holy Spirit. She somehow has ignored all the testimonials she has heard in church from people who have been miraculously saved. She somehow missed my own telling, to that very group, of my Jesus vision.
“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
John 4:48
Are you ignoring Jesus’ amazing, constant presence? Has he walked along with you, sat at your dinner table and you didn’t acknowledge it was Him? Are you looking for a burning bush outside your door to speak in a Charlton Heston-esque voice to make decisions for you? I’m not saying that won’t happen but Jesus’ character is a lot more quiet and gentle. He wants you to have the “ah ha moment” like the men in our story today. He leads you, tiny step by step to clearing the mud from your eyes and ears. And if you will only accept the burning bush as “proof” of His presence you will surely miss Him along the path.
emboldened.net 