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Fruit of the Spirit – Peace – Galatians 5:22-26 (3:51)

May 21, 2013 in christian character, christian culture, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, Christian training, christian tranining with 0 Comments

Hi. We continue in our series looking at walking in the Spirit. We’ve talked about the Fruit of the Spirit: Love and Joy. Now we’re going to look at Peace, the Shalom of God. What does it mean to have the fruit of the Spirit producing peace in and through your life? Can people notice it when you have the fruit of the Spirit of peace in you? Do they notice that you’re not anxious, that you’re not worrying?

Here’s a definition of Peace: a state of assurance, a lack of fear provided only by God, the unity between believers, freedom from worry and oppressive thoughts.

I know so many people that come to me in pastoral counseling and in mentoring situations that are just anxious and concerned about where their future is going. And sometimes it doesn’t feel comforting at the get-go to encourage people to live by faith, to walk into the unknown and be unafraid. I think our world has so trained us to be in control that when we don’t feel that we know where we’re going, we start getting anxious. That way of thinking and that way of living is putting us in the driver’s seat, us in the Lordship seat of our lives, if you will. Not God. The peace of God comes when you submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In and through His grace, He’s guiding us to that place. You can breathe! You know that you are loved! You let that love and that joy of walking in obedience, produce that peace. You are anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests before God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus, we are told.

So I want to encourage you in that. Another part of the definition of peace is the confidence and rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God more than your own.  You see, when I can believe that God is all powerful, all-knowing, and He can bring anything about, it brings me peace. If God wanted me to have something that I’m anxious about, He’d let me have it. And if not, I’m at peace. I can embrace my lot in life. I’m content.

And then, can that peace move between people? Can we have peace with each other? Jesus commanded us to be at peace with each other. Again, that is the fruit of the Spirit, my ability to bear with others, to love them anyway and to give them grace.  To be at peace comes because I first have received the grace of God and I feel loved. I feel at peace.

I pray that that fruit of the Spirit would be yours today.

Let’s pray: Father God, I’m so grateful that you want to bring your peace into our lives. And that Shalom that we can all experience by the power of your Holy Spirit is right here for the having. Father, I pray that we would get away from leading our own lives, that we would stop trying to control it, and that we would learn to rest in You. You lead us by your still waters, as we are reminded in Psalm 23.  You restore our soul. Father, help us to be at peace. Help us be still and know that You are God. I pray that You’d bring that about today in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

God bless you. Let His peace reign in your heart and in your mind. Amen.

Fruit of the Spirit – Joy – Galatians 5:22-26 (3:53)

April 26, 2013 in christian character, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, christian leadership, Christian training, christian tranining with Comments Off

Here’s another devotional on walking in the Spirit vs walking in the flesh, looking at Galatians 5. Last time we looked at the fruit of the Spirit of Love. Today I want to look at the next fruit, Joy. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy….”

Here’s a definition of Joy for  you to consider: “to delight in God and His salvation for the
sheer beauty and worth of who He is, not based on circumstances. It’s obtained by doing the will of God.

Joy is mentioned in Scripture many times. One example is, “for the Joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Well, what was so joyful about that? This is right after the Garden scene, where Jesus is literally crying tears of blood and weeping and begging God to take the cup from him. Joy really does transcend circumstantial realities. It’s not happiness; it’s Joy. It comes from doing the will of God. There’s that inner satisfaction. There’s that inner joy from knowing that I’m doing what my Lord and Master has commanded me to do. You’re doing it in His strength, so you’re not actually the one doing it. It’s His love moving through you and you have that Joy knowing that even though you’re being resisted by the world and Satan and your sinful nature, you’ve submitted and you feel the joy of being on mission with God. You know that He will accomplish His will, even though you might not know what that is. Sometimes we don’t need to know. Sometimes I’m on a need to know basis and I don’t need to know. I’m just told to go … and God moves through me.

So I want to challenge you to consider your obedience with God these days. Is it bringing this gladness, this delight, this special presence of God, this inner Joy, this inner glow? And do people notice it? It is the fruit of the Spirit. God will help you experience Joy as you follow Him.

One of the things I love to watch is when pilots fly aircraft, especially in dogfight situations, in F15s and Raptors, etc. When they lose sight of their target, they call out, “No Joy!” So this would be you losing sight of the target of God’s will for your life. You will have no joy, but once you have acquired the target again which would be the will of God, you will be fully Joy.

Let’s pray: Father God I pray that you, by the power of your Spirit, would make your will plain to every one of us. Father, we come seeking your will. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done.  On earth as it is in Heaven. Father, we want to hear, “well done, good and faithful.” We want to obey. We want to be guided by you today. We don’t want to be distracted. We don’t want to be off-mission with you. We don’t want to be tempted away to pursue any other idols and listen to them. We want you to be our God and our Lord. Command us this day, Father, and strengthen us that Your will might be done. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

God bless you. Walk in the joy of the Lord today. Amen.

Fruit of the Spirit – Love – Galatians 5:22-26 (6:06)

April 26, 2013 in christian character, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, Christian training, christian tranining with Comments Off

Let’s continue our devotional series on the Fruit of the Spirit: the difference between walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh. Last time we walked through verses 16-21, which encouraged us to walk in the Spirit rather than gratifying the desires of our sinful nature manifested in sexual impurity, debauchery, idolatry, etc. Paul finishes with a big statement: “I want to warn you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Those who have the Holy Spirit in them and have been baptized have the possibility (because only God can bring this life about through us) to walk in the Spirit and have the abundant life. But yet we choose to disobey God, to resist the Spirit moving in and through our lives, and we engage and live in ways that are not engaging God and are not good for us.

And then Paul shifts (and this is one of the more famous passages of Scripture). Verse 22: “But the fruit of the Spirit ….” How am I going to know when I’m walking in the Spirit? What will be the fruit of what God does in and through my life? “The fruit of the Spirit will be…” and then he gives 9 fruit: “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Then he says this, “Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, [since we are dead when we walk in the flesh] let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Let’s always remember that it’s the Spirit doing this. Don’t get conceited. When you see God doing all these miraculous, amazing things through you, don’t get conceited.  Be humble. Remember that it’s God doing it.

Today, I want to talk about love, the first fruit listed.  Love is what God desires to do in and through us. This IS what God does through us when we’re walking in the Spirit. The definition of love is “to serve a person for THEIR good and intrinsic value, not for what the person brings to you. Not just emotions and feelings, love is the decision to commit to the well-being of others.” Unconditional. Love is a decision to commit to the well-being of others.

It’s very clear in my journey of faith that any time I had the  loving disposition in me toward others in my life, it was definitely the Spirit empowering it. I know that I am a very self-centered person walking in the flesh, a person who engages in relationships for what I can get from those relationships. The kind of love that the Holy Spirit empowers, though, is a self-giving love,  a love that considers others better than yourself, a love that wants others’ good, no matter what, even if it means you don’t get anything in return. You want others to have. It’s that unconditional, agape love where you love people even if they hate you. You keep coming at them with love. That is the supernatural fruit of the Spirit that Paul is talking about.

So if you remember the acts of the sinful nature (hatred, anger, discord) that he mentions in the previous verses, this blows those out of the water. This says, when I walk in the Spirit, I love even my enemies.  And I love them with the ever-flowing stream that I’m tapping into as I submit to God, as I abide in Christ. He flows through me and love comes out.

So I want to challenge you to believe that LOVE is what God wants for you today. God wants you to experience and express His supernatural love in all of its manifestations. He wants you to know the life that is truly life: to walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Remember, those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. As we grow in Christ, it’s less of me, more of God. Less of me, more of God, over time. That’s part of being crucified with Christ. Therefore, I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

The unfortunate part is that we are a decision away, a thought away, a drift pattern away from disconnecting with God. His Spirit is constantly calling us forward, constantly calling us to live by the Spirit.

Let’s pray: Father we want to be your people of love. We want to know your agape love. Father please come. Transform us from self-centered people who only think of ourselves to people who are like you, who are love. God is love. Make us more like you. Empower that love in and through us. Thank you, first and foremost, for loving us that way: loving us without condition. Your grace keeps coming. Father, move your grace through us this day, that others may see our lives, see you moving in and through us and bring glory to your name, and see the fruit of Your Spirit. We pray this all in Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen

God bless you as you walk in the Spirit. May you see the fruit of the Spirit of love today. God bless!

Fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:16-21 (5:34)

March 10, 2013 in christian character, christian culture, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, Christian training, christian tranining with Comments Off

I want to do another devotional series this time, walking in the spirit, or life in the spirit. I want to look at Galatians, chapter 5 where it talks about the fruit of the spirit. Verse 16 starts, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.” They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness and orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Let’s stop right there. There’s this plead by Paul to the people in Galatia to understand the difference between walking by the flesh and walking in the Spirit. The key is to trust the guidance and power of God, to live in submission to the Spirit which guides and enables this spirit life. Then he shows the comparison right away: live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of your sinful nature. Paul is very clear: these two natures are in opposition to one another. My flesh, or my sinful nature, are going to desire things that are opposed to the will of God: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery and on and on.

I think it’s one of the hardest things for Christians to understand: apart from Christ (see John 15) we can do nothing. Nothing good, that is. I can do lots of evil. But only as we are guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit as we’re living in the Gospel. The Gospel is a living thing, intended not only to save us, but to transform us and live through us. Jesus himself, through the power of the Holy Spirit, lives within us through our baptisms.

So I want to encourage you as are getting started to going week by week looking at each fruit of the spirit. But it starts with an understanding that is very clear: any good that has come in and through my life, God has done it. Everything else, I did. The only stuff that’s going to be helpful to people and loving and transforming and blessing and growing people, God gifted us and does that through us. All the other stuff, we through walking by the flesh bring into this world.

So there’s an opportunity for us all. Every day we live to wake up, live by grace through faith, remember how much God has done for us and then submit to Him and let Him live through us and produce (as we’ll see in the upcoming weeks) the fruit of the Spirit. Don’t walk by the flesh. Walk by the Spirit.

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” The law was given. You should do this. You should do that. The law was given to convict us of our sin. Not only does the Gospel (because Christ died for our sin) to set us free, but the Gospel motivates and moves us to follow the will of God. You see, God does it all. I’m no longer under the law because I’m empowered by God to no longer be enslaved to the law. He empowers me to be able to follow His divine will through His strength. Isn’t that good news?

Let’s pray: Father God, we’re grateful, not only that you came, not only that you died, but that you rose again. And you invite us to walk in your resurrection power. Father I pray today that we would recommit ourselves to the living Gospel, to You living in and through us, breathing life to us and then through us to a watching world. Father, any of those acts of the sinful nature we looked at (sexual immorality, debauchery, etc.), it definitely convicts us that our sinful nature desires these things. We confess them to you Lord. We ask that You’d forgive us. Father, we are grateful that you forgive us every time we come in true repentance. And I pray now God that You’d empower us to live a new and different life, not under the law but walking in your grace, experiencing Your strength moving through us. We pray You’d bring this about in Jesus’ holy name. Amen

God bless you as you walk in the spirit today. Give’m heaven!

Confronting the “Deadlies” in the Roles of Our Life

February 26, 2013 in christian character, christian culture, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, christian leaders, christian leadership, christian mentoring, Christian training, christian tranining, church engagement, church leaders, church leadership, Coaching, community, Connection Culture, discileship resources, disciple, discipleship training with Comments Off

In every role that we have in life there are sin-related challenges. Sometimes these are the same sin tendencies no matter what situation or role we’re in at the moment. On the other hand, it could also be that certain sin tendencies only come into play when we are exercising particular roles in our life.

Sin is hardly a popular subject, even in Christian churches. It is not unusual to hear that someone will in fact stay away from church because the preaching was on sin, and they don’t like being made to feel guilty. Perhaps as a consequence of that, the emphasis in some churches is placed invariably on things that will affirm people and not invite them to focus on their sin tendencies.

To perceptive observers, however, the question of sin is unavoidable. A good example is a book written in the late 70s by British journalist Henry Fairlie, entitled The Seven Deadly Sins Today, in which he freely admits that he’s not a believer and yet points out all the ways in which various kinds of sin are destroying society. Merely ignoring the problem will not make it disappear any more than ignoring any other kind of threat will cause that to disappear. It must be confronted with the power of Christ crucified.

Let’s look briefly at how sin might confront us in different roles. In particular let’s look at our roles as family members, as stewards of resources, as friends, and as professional people:

  • As family members, one of the besetting sins that is so often weakening family life is wrath (vs. meekness). The records of divorce and family dysfunction are filled with stories about the explosive temper of one of its members. People who truly and sincerely love their family members and yet fail to confront this sin have been known to say or do things that have completely destroyed everything they have most deeply loved on this earth. When we feel lonely, we are also tempted to the sin of gluttony (vs. temperance). Filling the hole left by disconnected relationships we turn to food, drink or drugs. We are roughly four percent of the world’s population in America, yet we consume 50 percent of the world’s legal mood-altering pharmacological drugs and 2/3rds of the world’s illegal drugs.
  • As stewards of resources, we see many instances of sloth (vs. obedience) or greed (vs. stewardship). Sometimes we read in the newspapers about the constant wrangling over public policy, usually in the form of what the government should do or not do. Without making a political point, it is worth wondering whether the government would have to be involved in certain things at all if people at the private level were taking seriously the issue of overcoming sloth or greed. The government and other agencies can do little more than deal with those problems after their consequences have taken effect. They are the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, while it’s up to us at Christians to build the fence at the top.
  • As friends and neighbors, the sins of envy (vs. contentment) and lust (vs. chastity) come to mind. Many friendships have been destroyed by the resentment that comes from someone else’s success or prosperity. Entire revolutions have been attributed to envy as a causative factor. As for lust, society is experiencing a tsunami of relevant imagery that is having powerful effect. It is reported that among working-class white families in America, only 37 percent of children are living with both their mother and father (compared to 96% in 1960). Surely the promotion through the media of an anything-goes ethos bears major responsibility.
  • As professional people, as in many other roles, the question of pride (vs. humility) often rears its ugly head. We are trained by our world to base our identity on what we do, rather than what God does through us. Therefore, we are led away by Satan, our sinful natures, and this worldly system to achieve and accomplish things in our own strength, so that we might receive the glory. What a stark contrast to the life that God calls us to embrace, where He is guiding and empowering everything we say and do.

Let’s choose a bracing view of the tremendous power available to us as we deal with sin in all our roles in life. We have the duty and the opportunity to be dead to sin and alive to Christ and righteousness. Hear Martin Luther: “But what is God’s righteousness? It is when there is no longer any sin in us, and all our members and powers are subject to God, and used in his service that we can say with St. Paul (Galatians 2:20): ‘I live yet not I, but Christ lives in me.’ That happens when no sin reigns over us, but Jesus Christ alone with his grace.”

Of Character and Community: A Declaration of Dependence

February 4, 2013 in christian character, christian culture, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, christian leaders, christian leadership, Christian training, christian tranining with Comments Off

We understand the value of collective action, and it is this unity of purpose toward which we must continually strive. However such unity and power is impossible to attain if it is not built on the foundation of individual character and godly intention.

Certain cultural trends have been working on all of us to discourage the building of character, the building of community, and the interaction between those two:

  1. Narcissism. It is one of the paradoxes of spiritual life that we edify ourselves by serving others. Conversely, we weaken ourselves through habitual self-regard and self-seeking. Today’s culture features an intense focus on celebrities, in addition to advertising that has slogans such as: “because you’re worth it.” (That one has been around for a long time, a sign that it really works.)
  2. Technology. Few, if any of us, are not tempted to think we can solve most of our problems with one more computer program, spreadsheet, or handheld gizmo. We keep looking for new methods of reducing our essential helplessness. This, of course, is nothing new. Our grandparents realized that freedom from excessive heat or cold could be achieved with the mere press of a button. In other words we keep reducing the need to depend on God until that tendency becomes a way of life. A warning against this aspect of technology shouldn’t signal a return to a pre-industrial age but just serve as a reminder to renounce the illusion of independence from God.
  3. Autonomy. It is natural to avoid an unhealthy dependence on others but the quest for autonomy can often lead to illusion and unhealthy pride. A friend of ours, for instance, wrote a biography of a well-known Christian leader who started a broadcast ministry on a shoestring and built it up to where he was very secure and didn’t seem to need anything from anyone. In spite of the good accomplished through his ministry, he behaved in an autocratic and unaccountable manner to the extent that close associates were aware of a general environment of fear throughout his organization. This diminished his personal character and simultaneously the quality of community life in his ministry.
  4. Lack of Standards. For several decades at least, the avant-garde, or forces of the counterculture, have been assaulting moral standards with impressive success. In fact the transformation of culture has been so thoroughgoing that the word “countercultural” can now only be assigned realistically to those who are trying to restore firm standards of behavior. The world laughs at them and conspires against them.

Even in many churches, the last thing people want to discuss or hear about is the challenge of overcoming sin tendencies. It is, however, this victory over individual sin tendencies that holds the key to stronger community, and it is stronger community that holds the key to victory over individual sin tendencies.

The two things exert reciprocal influence on each other. If we neglect the character side of the equation, we fail to trust in God to transform our character and help us to partake of the divine nature. We can learn to pray in a way that affirms that trust, e.g., “Thank you, Lord, that you’re working in me to strengthen my love and self-control.”

“Give us this day our daily bread” Matthew 6:11 (2:50)

December 14, 2012 in christian character, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, christian leaders, Christian training, christian tranining with Comments Off

Ok, let’s dive deeper into the Lord’s Prayer together, looking at the next phrase. First, let’s put it into context. “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” May Your name be glorified, Lord. “Your Kingdom come.” May I live as a kingdom citizen, your group we call the church. “Thy will be done.” Grow me Lord.  I’m on a journey and I’m your disciple. Train me today. Teach me to obey everything you’ve commanded. Train me, grow me. “On earth as it is in Heaven.” Strengthen me. Help me submit and surrender to Your power in and through me.

And then He shifts gears. He says, “Give me this day my daily bread.” This is living as a good steward. It’s understanding, “give me” everything is a gift in your life. We’re intended to walk with Him and with one another one day at a time. “Give me this day my daily bread.” My daily provision that I need: food, shelter, everything that I’m going to need in my life. Not just your power, not just your training, not just your community, Father, give me all that I need, all that we need (we’re thinking like a community person now) to live today. I will be content with that. I will live as a good steward, stewarding the resources that you’ve given me, according to your will.

Framing this up in America is so important. Praying this prayer everyday, recalibrating your life as a good steward is so vital in a culture that is training us to be discontent. It’s training us to want, want, want and not live as good stewards.

I want to challenge you today: look how blessed you are. If you have food and you have clothing, you’ll be content with that. That’s what Jesus said. How much further beyond food and clothing has God provided to us? And we still wrestle with discontentment. We live as poor stewards of His resources. We don’t even ask Him “what would you have me do with this, Daddy?”

So I want to challenge you to do that today. And ask for His guidance as to what He wants to do with the provisions He’s given you. Let’s pray.

Father, God, first we are so grateful and thankful that You provide everything to us. Every little thing is a gift from You. We don’t want to take anything for granted. So thank you Lord. Teach us how to live as good stewards of Your provision for us. You are our Lord. You are our Provider. Teach us to walk by faith with grateful hearts and to be generous as You guide us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

So live as a good steward today. He has given you everything. Amen.

“On Earth as it is in Heaven” Matthew 6:11

December 6, 2012 in christian character, christian culture, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, christian leaders, Christian training, christian tranining, Uncategorized with Comments Off

Let’s dive into this next phrase of the Lord’s Prayer, again putting into context:

“Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name” (May you be glorified). “Thy Kingdom come” (Let me live as your kingdom citizen, as part of your group you call the church). “Thy will be done” (Father, I’m showing up for training today. Train me to do your will. Strengthen me to do your will. I submit to you training me today. Grow me today, Lord).

And then the next phrase: “on earth as it is in heaven.” There are different ways people look at the “Our Father.” They’ll talk about the three phrases in one. I’ll be talking about them separately. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” All three can only be done in His strength. When you think about “on earth as it is in heaven” you’ve got to start thinking about what it’s like in heaven. In heaven, we will be completely guided and completely empowered by God. We will completely do His will. He will perfect the journey that we’re on where we try to do His will over our will. Upon death, we get perfected to doing His will because he’s strengthens and perfects that in us.

And the key is that it’s all done through His power. The value of abundant living that we want to identify here is what we call “Gifts.” Gifts of divine enablement are given to all believers to grow God’s church. It’s the value of the supernatural power of God. We are intended to live here and now on earth by His supernatural strength through the Holy Spirit working in and through us so His kingdom WILL come and His will BE done. But it’s only done in and through His strength.

I love this idea of God in increasing measure (less of me, more of Him over time) growing us as disciples deeper in submission, walking more and more by the Spirit and not by the flesh, that more of heaven will be realized through us. Miracles were common in the New Testament, if you look at the Acts 2 Church, many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. It was because God was doing it through them because they learned how to walk by the Spirit. They weren’t in control of any of that; it was all what God wanted to do through His strength, according to His will.

And that is what it will be like in heaven. It will be this dynamic supernatural experience of His love, experiencing and expressing the love of God all the time. So as you recalibrate with His gifts of His power in and through you, I pray that you’ll be willing to surrender to the power of God in a deeper and fresher way today, not only that He would strengthen us but it goes back to where we started: that He might be glorified through us because as He’s doing it through us, people will see His handiwork in and through our lives and bring glory to Him.  They will be in awe of our God.

Let’s pray: Father, that is our prayer: that you will strengthen us. We believe that apart from You, we can do absolutely nothing. So we pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Father, give us a heaven on earth experience through Your Holy Spirit as we submit to Your power in our lives today. And we pray that You’d bring much glory to Your name. Teach us how to walk by Your Spirit in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Giv’em heaven!

The Big Vision of Life

November 28, 2012 in christian character, christian culture, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, Christian training, christian tranining with Comments Off

It’s interesting sometimes to compare the big vision of the New Testament to the one toward which our human nature naturally aspires. Jesus came to give us life and to give it an abundance, to give us joy so that our joy may be complete, to give us the peace that surpasses all understanding. The way St. Paul expresses the grand possibilities of Christian life seems far beyond not only our experience but beyond what we are accustomed to hope for.

Consider this passage from Ephesians: “…that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead…” (Eph 1:18-19) And also this one: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Eph. 3:20

By contrast, there are times when our highest ambition may be merely to cope with whatever is right in front of us. Life often seems like warfare because it really is warfare. Because of that it is tempting to just hope for escape from life rather than engagement with life.  

There are many thinkers of the past, such as Aristotle, who spoke about the good life, but there isn’t one of them who promised a life that can compare even remotely with the greatness of life in Christ. One only has to examine carefully the promises of God with this in mind to arrive at this conclusion. Quite a few people have actually done that, but then they still come to the conclusion, in essence, that God’s promises are simply too good to be true. The big vision implied by the abundant and victorious Christian life is beckoning to them and yet they haven’t dared to step forward into it.

How then can we adopt the big vision and then engage in it actively? A good first step is to allow God to cleanse us of the gallimaufry of trivial visions that descend on us almost every time we turn on the TV set or walk past a magazine stand. Staring at us at every turn in our celebrity-drenched society are false visions of greatness. Adopting a vision of the life that’s truly life (1 Tim 6:19) involves intentionality, and so let’s decide once and for all not to compromise with these false visions.

The next step is to decide that we are going to learn how to depend on the guidance and power of God, who teaches us that the big vision is the experience and expression of love. It often suffices to keep in mind four words from one of Paul’s letters: “make love your aim” (1 Cor 14:1 RSV). No matter how humble the situation or even dreary the task before us, there is a way to connect it with love of God, love of neighbor, and an awareness of God’s tremendous love for us.

Is there a promise of God that you think is too good to be true? Are you tempted to think that the joy and peace of believing are forever beyond your reach? Then take God at his word and accept his great and valuable promises by which we can participate in the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Begin to thank and praise God that you already have the seeds of these blessings within you; thank Him in advance that these things will soon become part of your experience. Adopt the big vision of the divine nature and discard anything less than that from this day forward and then see whether the promises of God throughout Scripture are in fact too good to be true. You’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

“Thy will be done” Matthew 6:10

November 13, 2012 in christian character, christian discipleship, christian discipleship training, Christian growth, christian leaders, christian leadership, Christian training, Uncategorized with Comments Off

Let’s look at the next phrase of the Lord’s prayer, as we’re looking at how to recalibrate our lives with our Father by praying the way Jesus taught us to pray.”Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be your name.” May Your name be glorified. “Thy kingdom come.” May I live as a part of Your group, Your church, in Biblically functioning communities. Then the next phrase is a very important phrase: “Thy will be done.”

To try and unpack this, I’d like for you to consider that we are sinful people, that if left up to our own devices, we drift away from doing the will of God. We want to do our own will. And so every time I pray this personally, the mental image I have in my mind is: I’ve got my sweatpants on and my sweatshirt on. I’m ready to go to the gym. And I’m saying, “Father, grow me! Train me to do Your will, not my will. I submit to doing Your will, not the will I gravitate towards, the will that my sinful nature makes me hungry for and the will that the Evil One is trying to convince me to follow. So I want to embrace Your training in righteousness, Lord.  Grow me.”

So that’s the value of Growth. This part of the Lord’s Prayer brings out the value of Growth. I like to say that growth is a process towards Christlikeness. So, it’s not going to happen all in one day. That’s why I think Jesus asked us to pray these kinds of statements. “Thy will be done.” It is showing up saying, “Grow me in Your will deeper today than I was yesterday. Help me understand what it means to walk according to Your will. Empower me to know that. Strengthen me. Grow me in habits that grow me to do Your will over my will. And do that daily.”

Let’s pray: Father, God, where would we be without You? We want to show up for Your training today. Grow us, Lord. Growth is a process towards full maturity in Christ. And none of us is ever done. So, Father, help us to know what Your training regiment for each one of us is today as we walk in Your Spirit. Help us to understand the sin that is so easily entangling us and know Your corrective path. We repent from our sin, Lord. We want to choose to walk with You. Thy will be done. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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