Month: December 2014

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New Years Resolutions

I like New Year’s Day, and it’s not just because of the party food and football games. I like to think of it as “reboot day”. It’s a mental thing. Yes, we can make a decision to reboot on any day of the year, but there’s just something about a new year that makes our resolutions more official and legitimate. It’s a chance for the first day of something new.

Over the years, I have heard comments like, “Making New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time, besides most people never follow through.” That may be true, but they are missing the point. It’s not about how long you will last, but it’s about the fact that you saw a need, constructed a plan and made a decision.

For as many years as I can remember, I have made some sort of New Year’s resolution, and most of the time I fell by the wayside on my commitment. But on a few occasions I followed through and developed life changing habits. I look at it like the game of baseball. The most successful hitters fail 70% of the time. For every 10 times they stand at the plate they only get 3 hits. But it’s the 30% success rate that makes them a champion. It’s not about hitting a home run, but about making enough good swings to get you around the bases to score.

Where would we be if we hadn’t decided to draw a line in the sand and make a decision to do something to improve our life? You can’t improve your life if you don’t take a risk and try.

Why make a New Year’s resolution, knowing that there’s a good chance that we will bail somewhere along the way? Because every plan, however short lived, results in incremental changes.

Bottom Line
Make a bold decision this year. Draw a line in the sand and make one or more life changing resolutions. For some, that may be to read the Bible through in one year, or set a goal to read at least one self-improvement book this year. For some, it would be connecting with a small group at your church. For others it could be a decision to make a really bold step, like getting married, losing weight, starting a new business or changing jobs.

Whatever your resolution, take time to write it down, develop a plan, determine to see it through, and then make yourself accountable.

“Commit your actions to the LORD and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3

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A Christmas Poem

Jesus Is The Reason

In Bethlehem, God gave to us
The source of Christmas joy;
A star shown on a miracle:
The virgin birth of a boy.

He was born both God and man,
A Savior for us all,
The way to get to our heavenly home,
If we just heed His call.

So as we shop and spend and wrap
And enjoy the Christmas season,
Let’s keep in mind the sacred truth:
Jesus is the reason.

By Joanna Fuchs

I trust you have a Merry Christmas and a blessed and prosperous New Year.

Blessings,
Larry Bennett

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Adversity

Have you ever heard the saying, “Adversity makes you stronger?” We would all agree that the statement on some level has validity. However, our real-life experience teaches us that adversity often leaves us confused, angry, hurt or depressed. Depending on the level and intensity, adversity often puts us in a weakened and vulnerable position. We are weakened because we don’t know what to do next and vulnerable because we often have a sense of desperation.

I believe the Lord has a purpose for us experiencing adversity. Here are three things to consider.

It’s about perspective
Adversity in and of itself has no value. The value to us lies in our perspective. We basically have two choices when adversity comes. One is a perspective of doom that keeps us in a confused, angry, hurt and depressed stage, or a perspective of hope that will allow the Lord to teach us a life lesson that will indelibly mark our life to the good.

The first step to getting out the “adversity funk” is to decide to change your perspective. Instead of living in an overwhelmed mode, decide to get up, dust yourself off and be intentional about discovering a good side to the situation.

It’s About Being Positive
Immerse yourself in positivity. I don’t mean the touchy-feely kind of emotion. But I am referring to the faith kind of positivity. You can be genuinely positive because you have the promises of God’s word to give you hope. Whatever situation you are facing God promises that He is “able to do exceeding, abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:29) In other words, there is no situation too hard for God.

It’s Time to stop talking and start listening
I had a good friend who had a bad habit of finishing my sentences. When I would engage in a conversation with him he would inevitably finish my sentences for me. He thought he knew where I was going in the conversation, so he would attempt to complete my thoughts. But most of the time he was wrong. He had terrible listening skills. I would often think, if he would just be quiet and listen we could make a decision.

Sometimes we are just like that with God. Because we so strongly believe in consistent prayer, we sometimes don’t take time to be quiet and develop spiritual listen skills. Once we bring our case to God, we are to leave it there, then rest and listen.

Bottom Line
God wants us is to fully trust Him through our adversity. When we worry, that’s a sign of a lack of trust. Taking things into our own hands is an indication that we know better than God.

When we face adversity, our perspective should be to look for God in the midst. He is there, but we must look for Him. Then we are to display a positive attitude based on the promises of God. The promises are for us, and they are based on absolute truth. Then we are to be intentional about listening for His voice. He promises us, “call upon on me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you know not. “

The proper response to adversity is God’s way of deepening our fellowship, teaching us valuable lessons and building our character.

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Surrender and Abandonment

“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. “ (Romans 12:1)

Surrender and Abandonment are not new concepts; this Biblical principle is seen throughout Scripture. God’s relationship with man is based on his degree of surrender and abandonment. Because of His absolute Holiness and sovereignty, He demands absolute surrender and abandonment of our life.

To the outsider, this may seem like an unreasonable request, encroaching on man’s free spirit and the ability to live his own life on his own terms. However, to the committed follower of Christ, we realize that God in His wisdom knows that unless we are willing to cast ourselves on Him completely, we will go the way of the world. In other words, absolute surrender and abandonment is for our benefit. The deepest contentment and inner peace is found in absolute surrender and abandonment.

When we live in this state we are living in complete trust and dependence upon our Lord. The Biblical principles of “In order to receive we must give” and “In order to save our life we must lose our life” are all connected to the principle of surrender and abandonment.

God wants us in the position that we have no place to turn but Him. He wants us to hold on tightly to nothing but His promises. He wants nothing to be more passionate to us than our love and devotion to Him. The unique thing about this proposition is that it enables us to love our friends, spouse and our children with a quality of love that we could never manufacture on our own. It causes us to love and give ourselves to those who are unlovely, troubled and hopeless. We become a magnet of God’s love to the world.

About this time every year my thoughts move toward how I want next year to be different. Rather than setting a lot of goals that I will probably give up on in a few months, I like to focus my primary New Year’s resolutions on a renewed commitment to surrender and abandonment. I review those areas that I struggle with surrendering. I examine those areas that I have a tendency to surrender and then take back. What are those areas of my life that I just can’t let go of?

I think I am doing pretty well at living the Christian life until I start to examine those areas where there is a lack of surrender and abandonment. One of the things that helps me with this process is to read over various prayers of surrender by saints of past centuries. I have listed a prayer below by Francis Fenelon, a 16th Century priest who was one of the great spiritual voices of France. It is one of the prayers I am focusing on this year. I must admit, reading through this does not give me great pleasure, but it does allow the Holy Spirit to remind me of my inconsistencies.

Please remember that surrender and abandonment is not about “doing more for God”, but about allowing God to do a work in your heart so that you may be in sync with Him. As you read this prayer may the Holy Spirit give you a nudge toward a greater degree of surrender and abandonment.

Dear Lord, I desire to give myself completely to you. Give me the courage and strength to make this leap of faith. My Spirit longs for you. Strengthen my will and my reserve to surrender all of the compartments of my life to you. If I don’t have the strength to give you everything, then draw me by the sweetness of your love. Lord, I know that I am your child and I belong to you. I am horrified by thought that I belong to myself and to my passions! Help me find all my happiness in you, for there is no happiness outside of you.

Why am I afraid to break out of my chains? Do the things of this world mean more to me than you? Am I afraid to give myself to you? What a mistake! It is not even I who would give me to you, but you who would give yourself to me. Take my heart.

What a joy it is to be with you, to be quiet so that I might hear your voice! Feed me and teach me out of your depths. Oh God, you only make me love you. Why should I fear to give you everything and draw close to you? To be left to the world is more frightening than this. Your mercy can overcome any obstacle. I am unworthy of you, but I can become a miracle of your grace. (Francois De Fenelon 1651-1715)

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How Do You Feel About Yourself?

Many of us have been taught that “to love yourself” is to be self-centered and egotistic. In a way, there is some truth to that idea. When you think only of yourself it leads to an unhealthy, unbalanced life. As followers of Christ our goal is to be God-centered, being careful to put Him first so that everything else will fall into its proper place.

However, in trying to keep that balance sometimes we miss the importance of having a healthy self-worth. Many believers have developed a resistance to anything that hints that we should love ourselves. Maybe it’s because of all the TV talk shows that champion the idea that we should do what is best for us, even if it means aborting our unborn child or leaving our spouse for someone else? Or maybe it comes from our religious upbringing that taught us that we are always just ole sinners, and that’s all we will ever be. But having a proper concept of self-worth is important for several reasons.

1. We are made in the image of God – The Scripture proclaims that man is made in the image of God. Once we are placed into Christ we are declared a saint, holy, righteous, citizen of Heaven, more than conquerors, delivered from darkness, joint heirs with Christ, and seated in heavenly places. (1 Cor. 1:2, 1:30; Ephesians 2:5, 2:10)

2. We are a conduit of Christ’s love to others – God could have the trees and the rocks to declare His glory, but He chooses to use us. His life flows through us in order to reveal Christ to a lost and hurting world. When we have the attitude that we are failures, incapable, inadequate and unworthy that attitude is transferable to those we encounter. How can we portray the victorious Christ to others when we are displaying defeat, and dejection? Our attitude tells our story before we open our mouth.

3. The Spirit of God tends to flow freely through those who are at peace with who they are. I am reminded of saying I heard when I was a kid, “If you are happy notify your face.” Who wants to open themselves to receive truth from someone who doesn’t even love themselves? (Ephesians 4:17-27)

4. Loving ourselves is a key element in abandonment and surrender. When we realize that God accepts and loves us just as we are, this helps us to realize our need to abandon and surrender our lives to God. When we understand that the God of the universe loves us and that in Christ we have worth and value to God, then we are compelled to give our lives to Him.

5. God desires for us to live in the context of what He has done in our lives, not in the context of what we were before He saved us. One of the most defeating concepts of the Christian life is that we are “just ole sinners saved by grace.” Yes, our nature before salvation was a sinner without hope, but since salvation we have a new nature. We are now “a saint who sometimes sins.” (Romans 8:1-7) Do you see the difference? One is a mentality of a sinner; the other is a mentality of a saint. Since we have been set free from the dominion of sin, the joy of the Lord is now our strength. We no longer perform in order to be accepted by God. We are accepted by God simply because we are in Christ.

Bottom Line
God wired us to need Him. As we surrender and abandon our lives to Him, He gives us all we need to have a healthy self-worth. That worth is not dependent on measuring up to some unreasonable standard of behavior. But our worth is based upon our identity in Christ. In Christ we are made complete (Colossians 2:10). Then we can effectively express His love to others. When we exhibit a Christ centered love for ourselves, we will be a conduit of God’s love to everyone we encounter.