Navigating God's Purpose and Your Desires
Can you articulate some of the primary needs, desires and burdens that you are carrying these days?Â
God wants you to express, to Him, the things are important to you.  He is often more interested in our needs than we realize. You may not have what you want “Because you don’t ask God.” (James 4:2)
Our desires can become problematic, however. When we become obsessed with our “stuff,” when our concerns become too much of a priority, they can become toxic and destructive to our souls. Our wishes may seem harmless at first, but as they become a fixation in our lives, they begin to diminish our world. It is as if can only see the object of our obsession. God wants to raise our eyes.
1 Kings speaks of a widow who, along with her son, was starving . She was about to prepare her last meal for the two of them when she met the prophet Elijah. He said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do what you have [planned]. But first make a small cake of bread for me and then make something for y...
How to Behave Like a Good King
When I was very young my older brother and I loved to play King. We would make card castles, and we would drape blankets over our shoulders. We’d throw cards at each other’s castles until we eventually destroyed them. Then we would traipse around with our blanket-trains following us, declaring that we were the conquering kings.
There is something deep inside our beings that loves the idea of kings and kingdoms.
A time is coming when, “the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15) Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords; every knee in heaven and on earth and below the earth will bow before Him. (Philippians 2:10) He is the Benevolent Ruler who gives life, rather than takes it. He fights to free people, not conquer them. He is the One who provides for His people, rather than receives provision from them. His kingdom is one of life, not death; health, not sickness; hope, not doubt;...
How to Build a Good Name
“Where’d all the good people go?” That’s a question singer song writer, Jack Johnson, asked in his 2005 hit song, “Good People.” It seems that media has so highlighted dysfunctional, rebellious and selfish lifestyles that we may be forgetting what solid living looks like. Men and women are finding it difficult to find good people to date; some are getting frustrated and others are getting scared. Where’d all he good people go?
We all have our faults and areas of brokenness. However, we must choose to live with some bedrock values. Solomon mentions two such values in Proverbs 3:3-4, “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.”
They may not get many hits or views on YouTube, but love and faithfulness go a long way in real life. To love others is to treat them as God would treat them – with honor, care and connection. To love others is to express and s...
Don't Be A Goldilocks!
When you hear someone speak or teach, do you consider who they are or just what they say? There can be merit in both approaches. Sometimes it is good to receive a message or an understanding from anyone – the content is critical. At other times it is important to consider the source … Are You Like Goldilocks? Do they know what they are talking about? Do they know how to do what they are teaching? Do they have experience in this area, or is their understanding based solely upon what they have read or heard?
When you really want to make changes or take new steps in life, you usually want to hear from those who have made the change and have walked in the direction you want to go. Their words carry weight.
But, what if their words seem difficult or require more change than you want to make – will you still listen?
Most people I know are like “Goldilocks;” they continue to search for insight until they find instruction that seems to feel just right. In certain circumstances, this is a valu...
How to Escape the Plague
There is a plague in our land. It is robbing and stealing life from people of all ages. It used to affect only a certain portion of the population, but it has spread to all kinds of people in our country. It is a communicable disease that causes death. It often starts in an undetected way, but usually progresses to destroy spiritual, emotional, relational and physical health.
Because this disease is curable, people often miss its deadliness … until it has ravaged lives. Its innocuous shortened street name is “Busyness,” but its clinical name is “Insidious Busyness.” It is insidious because it often undetected and develops gradually. Its initial symptoms can mask its real effects, even enticing its victims to drink deeper of its intoxicating ingredients. When properly diagnosed, however, it is easy to recognize, and its damaging effects become plain and clear.
This disease is so rampant and so entwined in the values of our culture, many don’t see its spiritual underpinnings and don’...
Does Your Obedience Feel Burdensome?
Have you “fallen” in love with anyone – I mean really in love? When that thing comes on you, your life changes. Everything else – even important things – seems to wane. Life in many ways gets put on the back burner, and you become practically obsessed. When your mind wanders from your tasks, it generally goes toward the person of your great affection. And, you find yourself willing to pay great prices to be with that person. You are willing to drive/travel long distances and go without much sleep to be with him/her. Almost nothing can hold you back.
This love-behavior is true of our relationship with God, too. "This is love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome." (1John 5:3) We ultimately express our love to God through our obedience to Him. Love and lordship are one and the same in relationship with Christ. To love Him is to recognize and relate according to who He actually is, the Lord. We grow through obedience and we remain close through obedience. Obe...
Today is the Day!
Life can and will be difficult. Challenges and hardships that will seem to be beyond your capacity to process, or even endure, are coming your way. This is not a negative fortune or word of prophecy; it is simply a reality of life in this world for everyone - Christians included.
Â
If tough times come - and they will - what will you do, and what will be your focus? You don't have to wait till they fall upon you to develop your approach. As a matter of fact, now is the best time to chart your general course for when the "bad" times hit.
Â
In John 16:32-3, we see one of Jesus's last conversations with His disciples before He was arrested and crucified. He was giving them crucial preparation for facing times of confusion and hardship. He said, "A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will h...
Watch Out for Sinkholes
A few times a year we hear about a house, car or building being swallowed up. All at once, the ground gives way and everything above the surface drops and disappears. These sinkholes can be very destructive and terrifying experiences, as they seem to happen with no warning. Engineers, however, say that (particularly in Florida) there are areas where limestone lies beneath the surface. Acid rain and other underground water can dissolve the limestone. When enough stone is melted away the underground cave collapses under the surface weight. It looks like it happens all at once, but the subterranean deterioration takes place over time.
We must tend to the condition and wholeness of our souls, or we may experience a kind of sinkhole collapse in our lives. It might appear that our present circumstances have caused our bondage or our downfall, but often the cause is subterranean deterioration. When we run too fast, push too hard or allow others to have too much sway in our lives, we can sta...
Choose Contentment Over False Contenders
We live in a society that is more resourced and privileged than any in history. Yet, that privilege can easily lead to a complaining posture. Wealth can paradoxically lead to an attitude of complaint and discontent.
When we focus on things, we can subtly start to believe that they will bring us happiness, identity or security. Once we have taken that bait, we can be drawn to attach our sense of self to those things and/or the “need” to get or maintain them. When we don’t have them – or when they don’t provide for
us as we thought they would - we become insecure and discontent.
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6) This statement is like a math equation: Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain. What, however, does it mean?
Walking in God’s ways, in a state of soul-contentment, is Great Gain. The great gain is walking with God in His ways. It is not tied to circumstance or resource. It is tied to God’s Kingdom – His person and His...
How to Deal With The Log and the Speck
Some people can really get under our skin. Possibly they are very different from us. They may look at life from very different perspectives or they may communicate in ways that seem very foreign to us. This can lead to misunderstanding and misjudgment going both ways. It is difficult to receive someone as they really are if we don’t actually understand who they are.
Other relational irritants sprout from people who are very much like us. They may be dealing with similar challenges, weaknesses or blind spots as plague our lives. We may be unaware of these problems in our own lives, yet somehow keenly aware of them in the lives of others. We can develop unconscious hyper-sensitivities to our own sin/weakness packages that are reflected in others. Our “stuff,” in others, can drive us crazy.
Jesus spoke about this natural propensity to judge others (Matthew 7:1-5). His point is that our judgments can be harmful to others and to ourselves because they are inaccurate and misguided. Usually...
