No matter how much I want to see those around me become more like Jesus, I can’t make it happen. Only Jesus’ can.
Israel had a King. They wanted a human king, instead, to lead them into battle. God was supposed to be that person, as modeled by Joshua. God would give Joshua the battle plan before and during the battle.
Joshua had to keep listening to and following the Lord for himself. It was the same for each tribe and family. Listen to and follow the Lord before and in the midst of the battle for victory.
Israel got tired of that methodology. They wanted a human king to do it all for them. Samuel tried to persuade them to change their minds to no avail. They wanted a human king, rather than God, to follow.
God finally told Samuel, “It’s My job. Leave it to Me.” What was Samuel to do? Pray. In fact, Samuel said it would be sin if he didn’t.
As we do church with other believers, we want to see them become more like Jesus. And, there will be times when, after lovingly sharing the truth with them, especially when we’ve been there and done that ourselves, they will still choose to go down the wrong path. What can we do?
Don’t get frustrated with them. Keep praying for God to do His job, which is to change them. Don’t wash your hands of them. Keep praying for God to break through their fog by allowing Him to change them. Stay on your knees for them in this battle by asking God to do what only He can do, change their life.
]]>A few years back, I was flying home from Israel when I heard some guys talking about philosophy. After a few minutes, I chimed in, “You’re making it way too difficult. You can talk theory all day long, but how do you make choices in real life situations?”
They chuckled and said, “It’s not that easy.” So I continued to listen until the stewardess told us to take our seats as the conversation was becoming too lively.
Yet, one who chuckled told me he was struggling and wanted to know what to do about it. Instead of chuckling, we had a great talk.
Jesus made life simple, “Listen and follow Me.” What makes this simplicity so hard is a wonderful thing we all cherish, free will, which means we can make choices we wish we hadn’t.
David writes about this in Psalm 19. He starts by saying God is speaking to us through His creation, and, will hold us accountable for every choice we make.
Therefore, David writes, “Let the words that come out of my mouth and the thoughts that roll around in my head be pleasing to you, Lord.” He is filtering his words and thoughts through the Lord, making sure he’s got the listening part down pat.
He then goes on to say, “The Lord is my strength.” He needed supernatural power from above to actually do what he heard God say. Cool. He’s got the power to choose correctly. Fantastic, right?
Well, David didn’t stop there. He went on to say that the Lord was his redeemer. There would times David would mess up. (Man, did he ever!) Yet, the Lord can make it right if David choose to own his bad choice. Learn from the Lord as to why he went down that path…again. And then retrain his brain (Romans 12:2) with this new information to actually do what the Lord wanted done in the first place.
As we let this truth of Jesus being our redeemer sink deeper into our brains, and with each future choice we ask for His strength, we will do the hard thing, which makes us more Christ like, the ultimate fulfillment of any choice.
May you do the hard thing by actually asking why you chose poorly; rather than simply asking for His forgiveness again and again for the same poor choice.
Be redeemed to experience true freedom to live life to the fullest.
]]>I’m working through the “I don’t have time for this!” attitude, which causes my left leg to bounce. And sometimes, it bounces pretty fast! I’m actually stopping it as I type. Ugh!
This attitude is based in a lie. It says that I have a list of things to get done and can’t rest until they are; thus, I don’t have time to waste. So, let’s get ’em done!
Yet, Jesus is my rest. It’s not what I do for Him that’s important, but enjoying Him while I do what He wants done with Him in the moment, the present, is.
The Alter of Novordok, who strove to live each moment with greater trust in God, put it this way, “One must relinquish all of his tomorrows for one today. Lest he come to relinquish all of his todays for one tomorrow.”
Each right now is another opportunity to increase our trust in God. How? He is with us, right now. Put another way, if we’re doing what He wants us to do (could be anything on that list and in any order), why are we thinking about what must be done next?
If we do, we miss Him in the present because we are not present with Him in the present, at least in our minds anyway. And for me, my bouncing leg is simply reminding me of this fact.
Focus on what He has for you now, not what you’ve “got” to do next. I think this is what Jesus meant when He said, my paraphrase, “Don’t be anxious about the next moment as it will bring just as much anxiety when you get there. Instead, seek Me in this moment.”
Can we not have a running conversation with our God (aka pray without ceasing)? And if we are talking with Him, it means we are in His presence in the present, which means for me, no bouncing leg.
“Lord, quiet my bouncing leg by increasing my trust in You in the present!”
]]>Centuries ago in England, there existed a battle in the church between those who wanted to live out their faith on a daily basis right where they lived (pietists), those who just wanted to live with Jesus for certain hours on Sunday morning (secularists); and those who wanted to live out their faith away from those who didn’t (separatists).
This same battle exists today. Which one are you? Before you answer, keep in mind that Jesus never asked the Father to take His disciples out of an anti-Judeo-Christian worldview world/country/state/city. Instead, He asked the Father to keep them from the evil one while living right where He had them (Jn. 17:14-19).
Furthermore, Jesus came to put us into a relationship with the Father (Jn. 14:6) where the Father lived inside us right now! And, one day would take us home. BUT, it’s not about the location of the relationship, but the relationship itself.
Are you in with living with the Father each day, which allows the dark world around you to see His light in you and then want what He has given you, real life despite one’s circumstances?
Or, have you checked out by thinking that going to church is enough? (For those who have given up on the church, don’t fool yourself. You could still be in this camp. It just looks different.) Or, checked out by seeking to leave a dark state/city for greener pastures, like heaven?
All three thought they were right. Yet, only one was. Discover who the Father wants you to be.
]]>Just like this little guy, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been knocked or fell down during my time playing sports.
Yet, unless I was hurt, where I was told to stay down, my coaches always told me to get up and keep competing. You can’t win unless you do.
Jesus knows we are going to fall down. Mind you, He does not want us to fall. He simply knows that we will until we see Him face to face (1 Jn. 3:2).
He does, though, expect us to get up. He even had Solomon write to remind us of this truth, “The righteous falls seven times and rises again.” (Proverbs 24:16) In Christ, we are righteous and are expected to keep getting up!
I love how one author put it, “Sleep on now, that opportunity is lost forever. You cannot alter it; but, you can arise and go to the next thing. Oh, let the past sleep on the bosom of Christ, and go out into the irresistible future with Him.”
Never let a fall determine your future. Let the next step you take with Jesus do. Keep getting up, my friend. Victory can only be had by doing so.
]]>My wife and I recently spent time in El Salvador, the home of my bonus son, Americo. While there, he took us on a hike up a volcano. This hike would gain 1,400 feet in elevation over 1.9 miles. Some hike, right?!
We were told, though, about this beautiful view when we arrived. We could either be intimidated to not take the hike by viewing it as a whole (1400’); or, we could be encouraged to go and simply take it one step at a time.
We choose the later. And oh, this beautiful view was more than worth the effort it took to get there!
Our walks with Jesus are much the same. We can’t always see the top or end of a particular hike; but, we can take it one step at time until get where He wants us to be.
Note: Life transformation is not for wimps! Our journey to become like Christ must be viewed as one small step by another small step relying on the Father’s grace and mercy along the way.
This is why the author of Hebrews tells us to encourage each other as long as it is called today (Heb. 3:13). Right now. This moment. Pray, text, call, do something to help a fellow Jesus traveler along their hike.
Life transformation is possible! Someone once told me that he strives to improve 2% each day. He could take small steps of obedience today to eventually arrive where Christ wanted him to be tomorrow.
The cliché, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step,” is true. 2% is doable my friends, especially when you have others walking with you one step at a time.
]]>What time is it? Depending upon which direction you are looking at the puddle, it could either be almost 9:00 or 3:30. Your perspective, walking toward or away from the tower, filters your perceptions, which become the basis for your decision as to what time it is.
Yet, with the perspective that you were looking at the tower’s reflection, it wouldn’t matter. You would know it’s almost 9.
Perspective filters perceptions, which affects the decisions you make each day. Question: Where is your life perspective coming from?
We know the Judeo-Christian/biblical perspective is fading fast in the Western Church. The perspective that there is an objective truth is giving way to the subjective “my truth, your truth” or a new way of saying an old theme, “It’s all relative.”
Those who hold this “new” perspective will be ripe for the man of lawlessness. He will do “miracles, signs and wonders” (2 Thess. 2:3-12) that will deceive them because they will perceive what he does to be a miracle, when it is not. It’s 9 not 3:30.
I am concerned for Western Christians. The latest data shows that 97% of those who call themselves born-again believers do not live or make decisions using a biblical perspective or filter.
Instead, they choose to make decisions with the “new” perspective, which makes them vulnerable to being deceived by our arch enemy. Their decisions, then, based on false perceptions (3:30), can lead to a lot of personal pain.
Jesus said the truth, a biblical perspective, will set you free. From what? Heartache, stress related illnesses, financial troubles, ulcers, disappointment, etc., which can come from making decisions based on a perception that doesn’t line up with Jesus’.
Save yourself some pain. Put in the work to seek Jesus through the perspective of the Scriptures. As you do, you will get to know what His voice sounds like, so you can follow Him to the abundant, though not easy, life that He promised.
The more you do, the healthier, better and more peaceful life you’ll live.
]]>Busy or fulfilling? Ask Moses. Israel went into Egypt as a family of 70 and came out a nation under his leadership.
Talk about a time when Moses’ life sped up faster than a tornado! He went from leading a flock of sheep/goats in the desert to instantaneously leading a flock of millions out of Egypt into the desert.
Yet, when his life sped up, Moses repeatedly went up a mountain to spend precious time with the Lord, despite being in contact with Him between visits. It was absolutely necessary to slow life down when it wanted to speed up.
Think about it. Does God really need our help to carry out His plans? He is unencumbered by time. He is, was and will be all at once (Rev. 1:4). All three time descriptors show us that God isn’t caught up in time. Furthermore, God will accomplish His plans on His own timetable.
As we surrender our time to Him, we can play a role in that plan. BUT, life is not about being busy for God. It’s about being with Him in the midst of doing time.
We see this in Moses’ life. When life sped up, God slowed it down by calling Moses up for a meeting.
When our lives get busy, we need more time with the Father, not less. He will get done what He wants done when He wants it done. So, you can either be busy about your stuff or be fulfilled being with and watching Him do what only He can do.
Sometimes more time with Him means less doing for Him. Guess what? He loves it.
]]>The moment we put our faith in what Jesus did (lived, died, buried and rose again), we became a new creation with a God given purpose to keep going.
We see this in the book of Joshua. The LORD freed the Israelites from slavery, just like He did for us through the cross.
He then gave the Israelites a purpose to turn the land of Canaan into Israel, based on His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He has a purpose for our lives as well – the “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10).
Joshua took the land, but it was up to each individual tribe to take out the remaining inhabitants. It’s the same with us. Jesus bought us, but now wants to take the junk out of our lives so we can experience life today while being a better witness. Age doesn’t matter, living by faith does.
Caleb believed this. He was forty years old when he told Moses the Israelites could conquer their objective – Canaan – based on what he saw God do the Egyptians. At eighty, he was part of the leadership that followed Joshua in fulfilling that objective. It took five years, but he saw it through.
Yet at eight five, his biggest challenge still laid ahead of him. The land where he was going to live, Hebron, was a hilly region, which made fighting harder. Its cities were fortified, which meant battles could take longer. And if that were not enough, the biggest baddest Anakites (think of Goliath) lived there – the sons of Arba.
Caleb kept going, however, based on what God had already done. He believed that “with the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as the He said.” Caleb saw what God had already done, so he kept doing what God wanted him to do.
Will you let your faith in what the LORD has already done grow to keep doing what He wants done in and through you? Age is a number, but faith has its levels.
May both grow larger!
]]>Joshua heard from the LORD that He would give Joshua victory literally every place Joshua put his foot.
All Joshua had to do was listen and follow. Notice, though, what came first – listen. You have to know what to obey before you can obey it. It’s not coming up with a to-do list; and then, asking God to bless those action steps, no matter how spiritual that process might be.
Our God not only knows the road map, but the steps needed to go down that road as well…every place Joshua was to put his foot.
God told Joshua to get the people ready to cross the Jordan. Joshua followed. God told Joshua how He wanted them to cross the Jordan. Joshua followed. He told Joshua to have the men circumcised. Joshua followed. Joshua received a very unique military strategy to defeat Jericho (Joshua 6). Joshua followed.
What comes next shows Joshua’s failure to listen led to his first failure as a leader – the city of Ai (Joshua 7).
The key point here was that Joshua listened to his military advisors and not the LORD. This failure to listen to God lead to the failure of Israel’s army and the deaths of 36 Israelis.
If Joshua had first listened, he would have heard from the LORD that there was sin the camp, Achan and his family’s sin, which unless rooted out, would lead to Israel’s defeat.
Joshua failed. After a little whining, he owned it. Sought the Lord. Got the information needed to correct it; and then, went back to victory…again and again and again.
Slow down. Listen to the Lord in His Word, in meditation, and in being still to get your daily marching orders before you head into the day’s battles.
Victory comes when we do.
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