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The Resurrection

It is believed that the early Christians had a greeting between each other. The first person to greet another would say, “He is risen.” The response by the other person would be, “He is risen indeed.”

This greeting reflected a new beginning for those early believers. The 400 years of God’s silence was now broken, He has spoken to His people once again. God provided a miraculous solution to a powerless, dead ritualistic religion, ran by controlling, manipulating religious leaders. It has been replaced by a living, risen Savior who conquered death, hell and the grave. They had seen him heal the sick, raise the dead, and reveal and expose the wickedness of the religious leaders. Everything they thought and believed about Jesus was validated by the resurrection.

The same is true today. The resurrection is God’s gift to mankind. He proves His ability to rule and conquer all the forces of evil and nature, especially, death, hell and Satan. If the resurrection did not occur, then the Scriptures have no redeeming value for us.

But the resurrection did occur and it has impacted history like no other event. No event in history has impacted both the past and the present like the resurrection. To illustrate what I mean I have included a link to a life size painting of the resurrection recently completed by a famous painter. He explains the painting and why he placed certain people outside the tomb. I hope the painter will release copies of the drawing for the public to purchase. I would be first in line to hang a copy in my house. Thanks to my friend Pastor Bob Self for sending this link. Let me know what you think.

He is risen…He is risen indeed.
Larry

The link to the painting – click here.

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Complete Surrender

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

There comes a time in every movement when total commitment is the only path to true fulfillment. Half in and half out is never the road to ultimate value. Even though this is true in every secular endeavor, it’s a Biblical principle.

God requires complete surrender of every believer – it is the normal Christian life. Somewhere along the way, the church has taken on a “pick and choose your commitment level, just as long as you believe” mindset. But that is not what the Lord requires according to the above passage.

What is complete surrender?

1. It is allowing Jesus to take His rightful place of “Lord of all” in our life.
2. It is surrendering our rights and expectations to Him.
3. It’s giving our children and our spouse to Him.
4. It’s giving up the right to make any decision apart from His wisdom and counsel.
5. It’s surrendering the right to come to God on our terms. It is recognizing that coming to God on our own terms is false religion.
6. It’s all or nothing. Partial obedience and surrender is not obedience at all.
7. It’s coming to God on His terms with nothing in our hand to offer Him but our lives.
8. Its saying, “Here am I Lord, send me.”

What are the benefits of total surrender?
1. Inner peace, which surpasses all human understanding.
2. The felt presence of God.
3. Wisdom the world cannot offer or explain.
4. The leadership of the Holy Spirit in all things.
5. The opportunity to be light, salt and hope to your world.
6. The ability to trust God, no matter what life brings your way.
7. The power of God continually demonstrated in and through your life.
8. Sweet fellowship with the Father.
9. The ability to do what is right when the tide of the world is pulling the opposite direction.
10. An eternal legacy that is passed down to your children, that’s better than money.

Are you living in a state of full surrender? If not, make a choice to be “all in” by surrendering your life completely to Christ’s control.

“We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ. We’ve got just enough Jesus to be informed, but not enough to be transformed. We want everything God has to offer without giving anything up. We want to buy in without selling out. We’re afraid that if we don’t hold out on God, we’ll miss out on what this life has to offer. It’s a lie. It’s the same lie the serpent told Adam and Eve in the garden. God is not holding out on you.

If you don’t hold out on God, I can promise you this: God will not hold out on you. But it’s all or nothing.
It’s all of you for all of Him.” (Mark Batterson, ALL IN )

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Who is Jesus to you?

When I was a child we lived just outside the Naval Air Station, so I had contact with lots of sailors in our community. One thing I remember is thinking that part of being a sailor was having a tattoo. I didn’t realize until I was a teenager that tattoos were not standard Government Issue for sailors.

To me the most fascinating tattoos were the religious ones because most of them told a story or revealed a particular belief system about God. Today is no different. Many of the tattoos you see today reflect a religious belief and sometimes may also reveal a person’s concept of Jesus.

Regardless of what you think of tattoos every person has a belief system about Jesus that is reflected in their behavior. For instance, take the person who has never given any indication that they know or serve God. They suffer a tragedy and then blame God for allowing the tragedy to happen. It’s rather obvious that their view of God is “don’t bother me and I won’t bother you, but if I get in trouble I expect your help.”

Unfortunately, there are many concepts of Jesus that are outside of the biblical view of Him as God. In a recent article by Lee Grady he gives several examples of unscriptural concepts of Jesus.

1. The Rolex Jesus – This Jesus promises health, wealth, mansions and luxury cars.

2. The Santa Clause Jesus – He lives far away and visits rarely. He keeps a list and if you aren’t too naughty He gives you what you ask for.

3. The Rabbit Foot Jesus – Some people treat Jesus like a magic charm. They don’t know how to seek to know Him personally, but they figure if they show up for a church service a few times a year, or hang a picture of Him on their wall, they’ll be lucky when bad things happen.

4. The movie star Jesus – He is adaptable to your spiritual preferences. He lets you define your own morality. He’ll mix all religions.

5. The Rock Star Jesus – He doesn’t care how you live your life during the week. Words such as “sin” or “holiness” are off-limits because they are just not cool.

I think you get the picture. There are many false concepts of Jesus. But it’s not who we think Jesus is that’s important, but who does the Scripture say Jesus is?

Throughout Scripture the names of Jesus are revealed. But Revelation 19 best describes His name- “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. This is His true identity but this title also reveals our intended relationship to Him. He is our “King and our Lord”. When we understand who He is we will better understand our role and our relationship to Him.

He is King of Kings
That means that He is sovereign and there is no one in the universe that He is subservient to. We are His subjects and He demands our loyalty, our obedience and our submission.

He is Lord of Lords
This is one of the most radical realities of Christianity. This describes Him as the Supreme Ruler over the universe. Proclaiming Jesus as Lord means we obey what He commands us to do.

What does it mean to recognize and acknowledge Jesus as ‘Lord and King’?
Simply put it means that Jesus is your master. He is the one that you obey and you willingly give Him power over all your life. Your overriding goal in life is to obey Him and do His will. His will and plan is preeminent in your life, nothing else should take precedent.

I would never judge anyone’s motive for a religious tattoo no more than I would judge anyone who wears a Christian tee shirt. But Jesus is more than a cool tattoo or a stylish tee shirt. He is Lord and King of the universe and desires to be Lord and King of our life. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul reflects God’s intention for those who acknowledge Jesus as Lord and King.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him; having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude…For in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Colossians 2)

The Scripture says that “the mystery of Godliness is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1: 26-27) True godliness and biblical spirituality is wrapped up in the person of Christ. God thought the supremacy of Christ to be so important to the Spiritual health of the believer that He sent Jesus to not only die for our sin but to indwell and impart His very life to us.

God’s ultimate plan for mankind has always been for Christ to be preeminent in our life. He becomes preeminent when we acknowledge and receive that He not only died for us but as us. That picture is painted for us in Galatians 2:20:

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.”

This judicial act was important in order that we might die to sin and no longer be slaves to sin. Allowing Christ life to reign in us allows us to experience continual victory over sin. (Romans 6:6-8)

Bottom line: Rest, victory, godliness, and holiness are not a result of what you do but are a by-product of who you are in Christ. By laying down your self-effort to “do things for God” and allowing Christ to live His life through you, the by-product will be rest and godliness. By resting in Christ and allowing Him to live His life through you, you will accomplish more for the kingdom than you ever thought possible.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Col. 2:6)

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Trusting God

As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. Luke 4:40 (NLT)

In the busyness of life we sometimes forget what an awesome God we serve. The above verse is a reminder of the power of the name of Jesus. This same chapter also tells about Jesus saying to a demon possessed man, “Be quiet, come out of this man.” Those watching the event said, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they fled at his command!” (4:35-46)

That same Jesus indwells every believer in all His power, glory and wisdom. Only our trust unleashes this mighty resource. Many of us live as if we don’t believe that. We worry, grumble and complain rather than drawing on the resources of heaven. We simply “have not because we ask not.”

God’s desire for us is to trust God for every ordinary moment of the day, not just those times when we are in a crisis. We are to live in the conscious awareness of His presence, while living out the Biblical principal of “apart from Him I can do nothing.” We are to live every day and every moment with a conscious awareness of our need for Him.

I am convinced that one of the benefits of being a grandparent is that you once again have a child that needs you. What a joy to hear my grandchildren say, “Papa, I need your help.”

If it brings joy to my heart to know that my grandchildren need me, how much more does it bring joy to the heart of our Heavenly Father when our life demonstrates that we need Him?

We are wired to need God. To live otherwise is to have a spiritual disconnect. We live out our faith by learning to trust God in every situation, not just during difficult times.

Bible teacher Haddon Robinson tells a story about trust from an event that occurred with his friend in South Alabama.

“Years ago, Monroe Parker was traveling through South Alabama on one of those hot, sultry Alabama days. He stopped at a watermelon stand, picked out a watermelon, and asked the proprietor how much it cost. “It’s $1.10,” he replied. Parker dug into his pocket, found only a bill and said, “All I have is a dollar.”

“That’s ok,” the proprietor said, “I’ll trust you for it.”

“Well, that’s mighty nice of you,” Parker responded, and picking up the watermelon, started to leave.
“Hey, where are you going?” the man behind the counter demanded.

“I’m going outside to eat my watermelon.” “But you forgot to give me the dollar!”

“You said you would trust me for it,” Parker called back.

“Yeah, but I meant I would trust you for the dime!”

“Mack,” Parker replied, “You weren’t going to trust me at all. You were just going to take a ten-cent gamble on my integrity!”

The ultimate goal of every believer is to trust God for every situation. You can’t live a fully surrendered life if you are only taking a “ten-cent gamble on God’s integrity.”

“Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

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The Search for Significance

Why do so many committed followers of Jesus seem to struggle with unrest, fear and anxiety? Is it possible to love Jesus, faithfully serve and fellowship with Him and still struggle with such unrest? Yes, it is not only possible but probable. We must remember that much of the Christian life is spent reprogramming ourselves from our past habits and belief systems. That’s what sanctification does. The Holy Spirit transforms and renews our mind and tears down all those old belief systems that are opposite to who we are in Christ.

After twenty plus years of counseling I have come to the conclusion that many people who are experiencing continual unrest, fear and anxiety do so because there is a missing element in their life that they can’t seem to grasp. The missing element is the sense of significance.

Every person is born with the built-in need for significance. We see this principle at work in the baby in the crib who cries out to be picked up and held, or the young child who scribbles unintelligible drawings on a paper to show his parent. We also see it in the teenager who competes with his siblings for affection and attention of his parents. They are searching for significance.

Men often look to their work for significance and women may look for affection and attention from their husband and children for significance.

God builds in every person the need to feel significant. We have this built-in instinct from God to search for what makes me feel loved, competent and accepted. We all have this need for a sense of belongingness? So the most important question becomes where and how do I get my significance?

There are basically only two answers to this question. The first method of getting significance is from the world’s standard. Our culture often dictates the standard for acceptance and significance. It is usually tied to living in the right neighborhood, wearing the right clothes, driving the most popular car and so on. All these things seem important for our sense of significance. But when these become our basis for significance we are assuming that this will meet our need. But one day we soon realize that we are left with a sense of emptiness, still seeking the elusive significance.

It’s easy to see the potential for disaster when we buy into the culture’s standard for significance. Personal achievement and accomplished goals is a good thing. Living in harmony with our culture is important for successful interaction with society.

However, as a follower of Jesus we have a different standard for significance. Our significance is directly related to our birthright, hence the saying, ” Inherent in who we are, is our ability to perform it.” God wired us to get our significance from our identity in Christ. Our inherent new nature makes us complete. Since we are indwelt by the Spirit of the risen Christ we are loved, accepted, competent, and have true and lasting significance. We have a new nature that makes us significant to God regardless of our achievement, or a lack of achievement.

What my point? God designed and wired us to get all of our significance from Him. Our worth, competency, acceptance and sense of belongingness should all come from Him. If you think about it, it’s a brilliant strategy. If our significance is fully vested in the person of Christ, then whatever comes our way we still have our sense of significance. Our sense of significance is no longer dictated by things and stuff, but by God’s grace and mercy.

That doesn’t mean we no longer experience disappointment or loss, but when these things do happen, we no longer fall into depression and despair. The very person who gives us our worth and significance is unchanging and absolute. Whatever happens in life, when we fail or suffer loss, God still loves us – unconditionally.

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Embrace the Cross

“So as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Colossians 2:6)

During the Dark Ages most sermons focused on God’s wrath and man’s depravity. This preaching was supplemented with a gospel of works. The popes and priest put awful burdens on the people, causing them to develop a various religious actions to find peace for their soul. Many would travel miles to some stone shrine, give long prayers, while counting prayer beads. Yet with all of this self-effort, they still had emptiness in their heart, and once again peace and forgiveness eluded them. They were still in darkness.

How could a religion whose emphasis was Jesus dying on the cross miss the true message of the cross? If they had only known that the cross was more than an instrument of death, it was also their key to forgiveness, peace and rest for the soul.

In like manner, modern day believers bear a similarity to those saints in the dark ages. Many Christians today still do not understand what Jesus did for us on the cross. The implications of the cross are many. For instance, many do not yet understand that the basis for victorious living is the cross of Christ. On the cross Jesus died to save us from our sinful nature. But when he rose from the dead He rose that we might be righteous, holy and acceptable to God. Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us. We can’t earn it, it is a free gift. No amount of good works will earn us the status of “righteous”, only the imputed righteousness of the righteous one can make us truly righteous.

At salvation we were placed into Christ and Christ was placed into us. (John 17) What does that mean for us? It means victorious living is available to us through the living Christ within us. Because we are “in Christ” we have fellowship with the Heavenly Father. We are accepted by the Father because we are in the Son. Because of the cross we are accepted by the Father. God never accepts us because of our good works but he accepts us because we are in the Son and the Son is in us. To reject us would be to reject the Son.

So the next time you feel rejected by society, embrace the cross. Remember that you always have God’s acceptance, even if the whole world turns on you. He accepts you because He purchased you on the Cross, and He accepts you because you are in Christ and He would never reject Christ.

Christian singer Steve Green sings a song entitled, “Embrace the Cross”. Below are a few words from the song.

Oh, wondrous cross our desires rest in you
Lord Jesus make us bolder
To face with courage the shame and disgrace
You bore upon Your shoulder

Embrace the life
That comes from dying
Come trace the steps
The Savior walked for you

An empty tomb
Concludes Golgotha’s sorrow
Endure then till tomorrow
Your cross of suffering
Embrace the cross
Embrace the cross
The cross of Jesus

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Growing Spiritually

Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen by itself. Like growing a garden, there must be preparation, maintenance, pruning and readjustment in order to enjoy the harvest. Listed below are five areas that have helped me toward developing spiritual maturity.

1. The Supremacy of Christ. One of greatest lessons I’ve learned in my walk with God is the principle that Christ is the center of all things. The Christian life begins, continues and is eternally sustained by the person of Christ. If Christ is the center of all of Scripture, and the redeemer of our salvation, then shouldn’t the focus of our spiritual life be Christ instead of a life “attempting to do things for God?”

Therefore, the beginning of any step toward maturity should be to focus on Christ. Our very reason for existence is to manifest the life of Christ that is in us. That begins by learning to rest in Him. Instead of a flurry of Christian activity, the first order of business is allowing Christ to live His life through us. The Scripture says, “I am crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God…” (Galatians 2:20)

It’s not about what you can do for God that is important, but it is who you manifest in what you do. It is allowing Christ to live His life through you and “do it all for you.”

2. Be intentional about you maturity. Like anything in life, you will accomplish what you intentionally make an effort to achieve. If your goal is to be the best golfer then you will determine a path that will help you become an accomplished golfer. You will have a set time to practice your sport, and you will have the best clubs you can afford, and you will make sure you work on your weak areas.

In a similar manner, it is important to be intentional about your fellowship with God. By having a predetermined time to read and meditate on the Word and pray, you will take the first step in becoming intentional about your maturity.

3. Set Spiritual goals. You know the old saying, “You hit what you aim for.” Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t become mature by attending church. Being around other believers is important to your growth but solid maturity is realized when you set personal spiritual goals. Initially your goals will be simple ones like reading a chapter in the Bible daily and spending 10 minutes in prayer. Then your goals should increase to reading through the Scripture, or developing a concentrated study on a single book of the Bible. My point? Your growth will be relative to the development of your spiritual goals. After many years of counseling believers, I have come to the conclusion that most believers do not have spiritual goals. For those whose spiritual maturity is limited to going to church, then going to church and listening to good preaching has made many spiritually lazy. Every time I set a new spiritual goal God teaches me something that leads to greater dependence upon Him.

4. Develop sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The older I get and the longer I walk with God, the more I am aware of the importance of being continually filled with the Holy Spirit. Often our words and attitudes reveal the condition of our heart, and the lack of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s voice. We must be sensitive to those things that quench and grieve the Holy Spirit. Why is that important? If the goal of the Christian life is to manifest the life of Christ in our attitude, our speech and in all that we do, then the Holy Spirit is the one that brings out the Christ likeness in us. Our smile, kindness, compassion and love are all empowered by the Holy Spirit. “And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit;” (Ephesians 5:18 ASV)

5. Stay close to passionate people. John Maxwell says, “People keep a poker close to the fire so that they can stir the coals and keep the fire hot.” In a similar manner we must stay close to those who are as passionate about spiritual things as we are. It is always good to hang with fellow saints who will challenge your thinking and will hold your feet to the fire if necessary. The Scripture says, “Iron sharpens iron. So one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17 NAS)

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The Word of God is like a foot lamp

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105)

I have had the privilege of reading the Bible through several times. Sometimes I would read it through in one year, sometimes I would read it thorough in six months and a couple of times I’ve read it through in 60 days.

There is nothing super spiritual about reading your Bible through in one year. But if you are like me, unless l have a plan and a set timetable I will not usually read the whole Bible in a year. I am famous for getting stuck in a book or two for an extended period of time and studying it verse by verse. (“That’s also a good thing.”)

Since it has been a while since I have read the Bible through in one year, I decided to set a goal of reading the Scripture through in 2014. I chose a plan that has a daily reading in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament and a reading in Psalm and Proverbs. From the first day I grumbled because I didn’t like jumping around from Old Testament to New Testament. After I got through January, I stopped the grumbling and started listening for what the Lord wanted to show me from each morning’s reading.

(How long you take to read through the Bible is irrelevant. The main issue is that you make a deliberate choice to read through God’s Word and make it part of your daily life.)

The primary reason for my grumbling is because I was breaking my rules for reading God’s Word. I don’t mean rules as in legalism, but I am referring to a mindset I develop when I open God’s Word to read. Listed below are the things I do when I read my Bible. Maybe you will find these things helpful.

1. I ask the Lord to speak to my heart while I read. Since the Bible is a supernatural book, we need supernatural understanding to discern what He is saying. It is important to ask the Holy Spirit to illumine the Scripture so we can learn what God has to teach us in the passage.

For example, I was reading in Mark the other day about the disciples crossing the sea in stormy weather. All of sudden they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them and they thought it was a ghost. After Jesus got into the boat and calmed the storm, Mark writes, “for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” (Mark 6:52) The disciples were so unmoved and unaffected by the miracle of the loaves and fishes that it never crossed their mind that Jesus could walk on water and calm the storm.
From this passage, the Holy Spirit showed me that God wants us to count and remember all that He has done for us and in us. God wants us so focused on God’s goodness and grace that our first instinct, when trouble comes, is to trust Him and not worry about what’s going to happen.

2. Don’t read the Scripture with an unrepentant heart. Many years ago I heard a preacher say that “the water of life does not flow through a dirty vessel”. Given the context of the message, he was probably referring to our ability to be an effective testimony. But I believe it could also mean that in order for us to fully comprehend and understand the Scripture our heart must be right with God. Since the Scripture is a supernatural book, unconfessed sin hinders the flow of God’s Spirit and thus blocks us from Spiritual enlightenment. Also, I have found the Scripture to be the primary way God speaks to me. So keeping our sin confessed when we approach the Scripture is paramount to hearing His voice.

3. Look for Jesus in all of Scripture, both New Testament and Old Testament. One of the key principles I learned in reading Scripture is all Scripture points to Jesus. The Old Testament speaks of, points to, witnesses to, and testifies of Jesus. Jesus even said that “all Scripture points to me.” When you read the Old Testament keep in mind that many of the events, ceremonies, sacrifices and even the characters are types of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross.

4. Read the Bible in context. There is an old saying, “When you read the Scripture out of context it becomes a pretext. A pretext had no value.” When you read the Scripture consider to whom it was written, where it was written, why it was written, and the culture they were writing to. Some books are written to an individual and some to a church. It is important to understand the context as you read the Scripture.

5. Reading the Bible slowly. The Bible is full of interesting and relevant stories but it’s not a novel. It should be read slowly and deliberately, keeping in mind the context and then considering how the Scripture could apply to you. That’s one reason I don’t chose to read the Bible through every year. I find myself reading it too quickly to get through my assignment. The Scripture is meant to be understood, comprehended and applied. And that is difficult to do when we are reading it like a best seller novel.

I am often surprised how many believers’ neglect reading the Scripture on a regular basis. I would often tell my counselees that the Word is a remedy to their doubt, fear and weak faith. The Word of God increases my faith, reveals my true identity, aids in the tearing down of strongholds and reveals that fellowship with the God is possible.

I trust the Word of God will be a lamp unto your foot that lights your daily path.

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Stewardship of the Mind

During most of my Christian life nearly every sermon or lesson I heard on the subject of stewardship had to do with money. So to me, spiritual stewardship was about our relationship to money. It wasn’t till years later that I realized that our relationship to money was only a part of spiritual stewardship. Biblical stewardship relates to every area of our life.

Giving money, reading your Bible and regularly meeting with believers is just part of our spiritual stewardship. I have met numerous believers who were tithers and faithful church members but their lives were a mess. I think part of the reason is they neglected the necessity of being a good steward in all areas of their life.

One of the major areas of neglect is in the area of setting our mind. Our mind is a wonderful gift from God. Our mind has the ability to create, reason, compute and to dream great things. When we become a follower of Christ our life changes and we have a brand new nature (2 Cor. 5:17), but our mind needs to be developed to think consistent with our new nature. Theologically, that’s called the act of sanctification. It is up to us to be a good steward of our mind and learn to think with the mind of Christ ( 1 Cor. 2;16). If we don’t intentionally set our mind upon truth, then our mind will naturally go the way of the flesh and the culture. The Scripture admonishes us to set our mind on things above in Colossians 3.

In this devotional I want to address four hindrances to good stewardship of our mind.

Worry – Worry begins with little things, things that seem insignificant. But if those little worries are left unchecked a pattern of worry will develop, and soon worry becomes a way of life. As a follower of Jesus, there are many reasons for us to avoid falling into the worry trap. First of all, if God takes care of the flowers and the birds, He will take care of us. (Matthew 6:25-34) Also, the Scripture tells us to be “anxious for nothing” in Philippians 4. Worry is our acknowledgement that we don’t believe what God says applies to us. We must learn to bring everything to God in prayer and trust Him to give us wisdom and strength to face every issue of life. Bottom line, you can choose to worry or you can choose to trust God.

Indifference – This is a slippery slope and a very serious place to be as a committed follower of Christ. Indifference is tied to the principle of fence sitting. For some it is a safe place to be, but the decision to be indifferent is really based on fear. The Bible speaks about indifference in the book of Revelation when it refers to the church of Laodicea. Jesus said, “Because you are neither cold nor hot I will spit you out of my mouth. “ (Rev. 3) The Scripture teaches anything less than radical trust in God is lukewarm. When we are indifferent in our commitment to Christ it affects every other area of our life. We become indifferent about our relationships, about opportunity, our job, and about hard decisions we need to make. Indifference is a choice of the mind. If you are a fence sitter, get off the fence and get back in the game.

Indecision – Motivational speaker Jim Rohne said, “Indecision is the thief of opportunity.” I can’t tell you how many times that indecision has caused me to miss an opportunity to share my faith or give comfort and care to someone who needed an encouraging word. It has also cost me to miss out on a business opportunity or two. Indecision sometimes causes us to over-think a situation and causes us to not trust the voice of God. Is your indecision based on fear or a lack of wisdom?

Doubt – Doubt is tied to indecision and fear. We ought to be cautious and careful to weight our decisions with logic, but you can’t let doubt take over your life. Once doubt sets in you doubt the past, the present, and then the future. This is where setting your mind on truth is essential. When you surrender your rights and expectations to the Lord and begin to rest in Christ’s love, your legitimate doubts will become a red flag and your unfounded doubts will flee. The Scripture says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5)

Proper stewardship of the mind begins by giving our worry to God, trading in our indifference for positive faith, then casting our indecision and doubt aside by putting our trust in God.

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Some things I’ve learned from Reflection

Now that I am a senior saint I find myself reflecting on the past more often than before. Like most people I have few regrets. There are some things that I would do differently and a few things I would not do at all. I keep telling myself that I am older, seasoned and have more wisdom, so I should make better decisions. That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

Through this self-reflection process I have learned a few things about my older self. Maybe you can identify with some of the things that I have learned.

1. Too much reflection causes me to center on my failures and stupid decisions. I have found that too much reflection causes me to delve into the world of “what if’s”. When we ponder all the “what if’s” of life we begin to second guess many of our past decisions. The result is always an unhealthy picture of us as failures. Then we have the danger of becoming fixated on the past. We have a tendency to focus on the negative and miss the great things God has done for and through us. I must remember that God does not dwell in the world of “What If”.

2. The greatest moments of my life were when I was “all in”. I am an “all in or nothing” guy. Whatever I am doing I am laser focused, and fully commit myself to the task. I have found that there is a connection between my level of commitment and my overall spiritual condition. When I make a deliberate decision to wholly consecrate my life to Christ’s complete control, I am able to approach any opportunity that God brings my way with passion and zeal. As I submit my every thought to the Spirit’s control, my guidance comes. I have found that I must stay hungry for God’s touch on all that I do, whether it’s a ministry project or a business opportunity. I find if I am not consciously hungry for God, I am full of myself, which usually means I am dead in the water and pretty much useless. For me, my passion to begin and sustain any new project is directly related to my present level of consecration. I have to keep in mind that I can’t separate my spiritual life from my secular life. As a committed follower of Christ every area of our life has a spiritual connection.

3. Surrender and abandonment must not just be something that we’ve learned in the past. Just because I have personally experienced surrender and abandonment in the past does not mean I am experiencing it today. Surrender and abandonment should be a daily awareness. A lack of surrender almost never occurs suddenly. It’s usually a gradual thing that occurs when we begin to take back control of our self-centered life. We forget that God can do more in one moment than we can do in a lifetime of operating out of our own strength. For me, I learned that I must have a daily consciousness of my need to surrender everything and person to His control.

4. The older I get the more I need Him. The longer I walk with God the more inadequate I feel and the more dependent I am on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. For me, daily fellowship with God is the key to keeping the fire of God burning in my soul. For many years my daily devotional time was driven by a need to feel accepted by God. I felt as if I had to do my daily ritual because I wanted God to be pleased with me. Then one day I discovered that God loved and accepted me because I was in Christ, not because I was a good performer. There was nothing I could do that would make Him love me more or accept me more. Now my daily fellowship with God is not just a mechanical event that occurs in the morning, but an all-day acknowledgment of God’s presence and acceptance. That creates a deep longing in me to bask in God’s love and fellowship and to enjoy Him as He enjoys me. Regular, deliberate fellowship with God is one of my essentials to maintaining an ongoing love relationship with my heavenly Father.

What’s the bottom line? I think the lyrics to this old gospel song best reflects what I am trying to convey.

“I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord. No tender voice like thine can peace afford. I need thee oh I need thee, every hour I need thee, Oh bless me now my Savior, I come to thee.”
(I Need Thee Every Hour by Hawks and Lowry)

“There is no more miserable human being than the one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision.” — William James