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Setting your mind on God’s interest

“…You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”(Matthew 16:23 NIV)

Peter and the disciples were at the peak of their earthly internship with Jesus. They had witnessed the blind see, the lame walk and the dead raised to life. Twice they had seen thousands miraculously fed from a few loaves and fishes. They heard Jesus’ riveting teaching and they watched Him as He dismantled the religious ruler’s arguments and reveal their wicked and conniving schemes.

What a three years it had been. Ordinary blue collar workers thrust into a three year ride with the Creator of the universe. They were changed forever. How could they ever go back to their secular occupations? You can only imagine the boldness and confidence the disciples were feeling. They thought with Jesus as their leader they were going to change the world.

Then everything changed. Jesus began to clearly and distinctly tell them that He must go to Jerusalem where He will be falsely accused by the religious leaders and be killed. Then Peter in all his passion and boldness declared, “God forbid, this will never happen to you.” But Jesus immediately rebuked him and said, “Get behind me Satan; you are a stumbling block to me.” Then Jesus revealed the real problem with Peter and the disciples when He said, “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (NIV)

What a revealing and riveting statement. It defined the real condition of not only Peter’s heart but also the disciple’s spiritual condition. They were thinking from a “flesh” perspective and missing the point of why Jesus came. They were loyal servants, committed followers and had a “in this to the end” mentality, but they were not being led by the Holy Spirit.

They were missing the very heart of God. How is it that you can live with Jesus 24/7 for three years, and participate in the ministry as a co-worker and miss the heart of God? How did they miss that Jesus came to redeem a fallen race?

It’s really not hard to understand how they missed the point when we observe our own lives. I believe the statement; “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” is an accurate picture of the typical Christian life. We may be loyal followers, regular givers, Bible readers and even have a large collection of Christian music, but we are missing the heart of God.

The heart of God can only be discerned by living in daily and deliberate submission to the Holy Spirit. The moment we became a follower and believer of Jesus the Holy Spirit took up residence in our life. He is our teacher, our guide, and our revealer of the heart of God. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is being acutely aware of His presence and being keenly sensitive to those areas of our life that offend Him.

Dr. R.T. Kendal, writing about the Holy Spirit, suggested that we often forget that the Holy Spirit is a sensitive person and that we could even say, in a reverent way, that He is even hypersensitive.

The Word of God is to take supreme precedent in our life. We are to read it, memorize and heed its instruction and warnings. But the power to understand, to heed and apply the Word is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is indeed a supernatural book, but it becomes just another book without the Holy Spirit’s personal and direct revelation to us. In other words, without the daily, conscious leadership of the Holy Spirit, practically speaking, we become just another religious person, living out of our own strength.

What’s my point? We must stop and examine our life and determine that we are not going to live our life like those pre-resurrection disciples and miss “God’s interest.” We must put every activity, interest and conversation under the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit.

Are you grieving the Spirit by your sharp tongue and your unkind words? Does your impatience quench the Spirit of God when waiting in line at the grocery store? Are we grieving the Spirit by sulking and pouting when we don’t get our way? Do we grieve and quench the Holy Spirit by having an argumentative spirit? Are we too proud to say “I am sorry, forgive me?” Are you grieving the Holy Spirit by holding a grudge?

God desires for us to be a conduit of His love and power but that can only occur if we become sensitive to offending and grieving the Holy Spirit that is within us. Is the Holy Spirit within you grieved or ungrieved? God’s intention for us is to be about “God’s interest” by living a life controlled and filled with the Holy Spirit.

May I challenge you to arise every morning and ask Holy Spirit to make you hypersensitive to those things that offend and grieve Him? And would you ask Him to fill you with His presence and power that you might have “His interest” in you today? You never can tell who is watching you and who God might bring across you path. Be ready for a spiritual encounter by being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s voice.

“Show me your ways Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. “(Psalm 25:4-5)

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God wants us to be happy?

I wish I had a dollar for every counselee who said to me that they just wanted to be happy. I would have quiet a nest-egg. I don’t mean to seem critical of someone desiring to feel happiness in their life. Everyone wants to be happy. But the primary need of every believer is not to strive for happiness but to surrender their life to the will of the Father in order to realize inner peace.

When we make our happiness the primary issue we have a tendency to abandon God’s plan for our plan. There are several problems with making happiness our focus. C.S. Lewis said, “When happiness is identified as the most important thing, it is self that we seek above all else.”

The concept of seeking happiness above all else causes us to adopt a creed that gets us out from under the controlling arm of God. It is an attitude that says we are free to pursue that which is pleasing to us regardless of the consequences. We then develop a Cain mentality of self-satisfaction and performance based acceptance. Cain knew what God’s standard was but chose to make his own way in his own strength.

If it is true that we have a divine destiny from the foundation of the world (2 Tim 1:9), then our first response shouldn’t be the pursuit of our happiness but the pursuit of God. It is only through pursuing Him that we can realize our true destiny. The Scripture clearly teaches us that in Christ we are made complete (Col. 2). In other words true satisfaction, contentment and inner peace comes from focusing on the inner Christ.

Happiness should not be our pursuit, but rather inner peace should be our goal. Inner peace is not the sum total of good circumstances and happiness but inner peace is the result of seeking Him. I often illustrate this principle by the following two formulas:

World’s perspective: Happiness + good circumstances = Inner peace

God’s perspective: Jesus = Inner peace (regardless of circumstances or feeling of happiness)

In the first formula we have to possess a feeling of happiness and all good circumstances in order for inner peace to be a reality. How many times in your life are all your circumstances good and you have a feeling of complete happiness? The first formula sets up for failure. The second formula leads us to inner peace and then as a result we experience happiness as a by-product.

Does the Lord want his children happy? Sure he does. But he doesn’t want us to pursue happiness, because in doing so we will automatically fall into a self-gratification mode that leads to a self-absorbed life. He wants us to pursue Him and in doing so our life is filled with His joy – a joy that fills us with inner peace and a feeling of happiness and well-being.

The next time you sense a feeling of unhappiness stop and ask the question, “Is my source of unhappiness a need for self-gratification? Am I unhappy because I am not able to get my way? Do I feel something is being taken away from me?” This is your queue to surrender you situation to God’s control. Surrender and abandonment is God’s method of delivering us from our need to control every situation. When our goal is pursuing God then the outcome will be joy and a deep sense of happiness.

“…and in Him you have been made complete.” Colossians 2:10

People who are crucified with Christ have three distinct marks:
1. They are facing only one direction,
2. They can never turn back, and
3. They no longer have plans of their own.
–A.W. Tozer

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God Has a Plan

Some would like to think that the whole human race is the children of God, but not so. It is true that we are a creation of God, but from a relationship perspective, all are separated from God by sin. The Scripture tells us that before salvation we were children of wrath; “…you were by nature children of wrath, but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:3-5)

When we put our trust in Christ we became someone we have never been before. We passed from death unto life. We are now a new creation with a new worldview. We once followed the world’s perspective on life, now we have a new perspective.

This new perspective/worldview affects everything in our life. We now see the world through the eyes of God’s Word. Our reaction to the world’s disappointments and failures now has a spiritual component. We realize God is involved in every aspect of our life, and with that involvement He has a divine plan and purpose. When we hurt or suffer a great loss God is there to comfort us, but sometimes He often reveals a divine purpose in our suffering.

To illustrate my point I want to share a story recently sent to me by a dear friend. It’s the story of how the old gospel song “Precious Lord” came about.

“Back in 1932, I was a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie and I were living in a little apartment on Chicago’s south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis where I was to be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn’t want to go; Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child, but a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis. I kissed Nettie goodbye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66.

However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie sleeping peacefully. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music.

The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED.

People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was “Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead.'”

When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that same night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him anymore or write gospel songs I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis.

Something kept telling me to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died.

From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially one friend. The following Saturday evening he took me up to Maloney’s Poro College, a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows.

I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody. Once in my head they just seemed to fall into place: ‘Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn, through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light, take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.’

The Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power.

And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when He will take me and gently lead me home.”

Tommy Dorsey

(For those too young to know who he is, Tommy Dorsey was a well-known band leader in the 1930’s and 40’s.)

God’s answers are wiser than our prayers.

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Dealing with Fear

As I look back on my counseling career one of the most prevalent problems I discovered among believers is the issue of FEAR. I do understand that most everyone has some sort of fear. The level of fear ranges from simple fear, like loud noises, to severe phobias like the fear of being touched.

Sociologist tells us that every person is born with two fears, the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Every other fear is man-made. How each person develops the different types of fear has been debated for years. I think it is a combination of how you were raised, and your worldview, as well as your primary influences such as friends, culture, and your life experiences.

Regardless of how we developed our various fears the bigger issue is how we handle our fears. Fear left unchecked will control us and will be a major factor in our day to day inner peace and our general sense of well-being. If you don’t learn to contain and control your fear your life will be characterized by fear. Fear could become a way of life.

There is not enough space in this short article to go very deep on the subject of how to deal with fear, but maybe the following observation will help.

Fear is based on the future and is generally characterized by “what might be”, rather than what is true at this moment. God’s intention for us is to live fully in the present but not in the past nor the future. When we live in the past we have a tendency to be an angry person. An angry person is usually an argumentative soul. Normal for them is to stir up disharmony and create a stressful situation.

When we live in the future we become fearful. We tend to worry about “what might be” rather than what we are experiencing in the present. When you are fearful and live in the future it causes you to “hoard or run.” You have a tendency to hoard because you fear what you might not have in the future. You run because you think if you can change the location the fear will go away.

The opposite of fear is trust and rest. Hebrews tells us that “there is a rest for the people of God…let us make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fail by following their example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:9-11) Through Christ’s redemptive work on the cross we are given a unique opportunity to draw on God’s provision of supernatural rest. That means we now have a choice, we can worry or rest. There are not psycho-mind games to play when dealing with worry, we just learn to rest in Christ’s provision. Christ is enough.

As a committed follower of Jesus, living in fear is the ultimate insult to God’s character. I know that sounds a bit harsh but God’s provision of “Christ in us” gives us the ultimate power and ability to live victorious over fear’s domination. Fear is opposite of trust. When we choose to fear rather than trust, we are in danger of offending God’s character.

If God is all powerful, and He is, and He is all knowing, and He is, and He is everywhere, and He is, then why live in a world of “what if”? If you are living in fear then you are enslaved. It doesn’t matter what you are afraid of, or even if you don’t know what you are afraid of, the enemy is using fear to enslave and control.

When we received Christ we became someone that we have never been before. We received a new nature, became the “tabernacle” of God, and were given the ability to dominate every fear that comes our way. In Christ we are both positionally and literally fearless. (Romans 8)

So the next time you are tempted to give in to fear remember the following steps:

1. Acknowledge to God that you are indeed fearful. You realize that fear is a lack of trust in God’s ability to control your future.
2. Declare with an act of your will that this fear is inconsistent with who you are in Christ. Then cast your fear upon Christ. (1 Peter 5:7)
3. By faith, walk in your identity in Christ and take God’s peace, rest and provision.

Now here is the question you must ponder. Will you “put on Christ” and draw on the rest that is yours and be fearless, or will you choose to be controlled by fear? The choice is yours.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…for in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Colossians 2)

“If we are to better the future we must disturb the present.”
-Catherine Booth

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When God is not Speaking

“And yet it is true that this God, who desires to give Himself to you, will often conceal himself from you – from you the very one who seeks Him.” (Guyon)

If you have been a “God Seeker” very long, you have experienced the above statement on at least a few occasions. Why does a God who loves us so intensely seem to close a deaf ear to our prayers, especially in times of great need? There are at least three reasons.

First, God wants us to be on a track of continually pursuing Him. If you are the typical Christian then you, like me, have a tendency to get spiritually lazy when things are going great. We may have our daily devotions and shoot up a few prayers during the day, but we lack passion in our pursuit of Him. We may not say it, but we sometimes live like, “God I am ok now, but I will be sure to get really serious about prayer if I hit a snag I can’t fix. You will be the first one I call on.”

Every committed follower of Jesus is quick to call upon the Lord when things begin to get out of control, and it should be that way. However, God’s higher desire for us is to pursue Him even when times are good. God created us for fellowship with Him. It is the instinctive nature of a child of God to pursue a deeper and richer fellowship with the Father. So when we sense those times when God seems to turn a deaf ear to our prayers it could be a sign that we need to examine our passion of pursuit.

Secondly, it is a test of our faith. Do you really believe, even when you can’t “feel” His presence? As a faithful follower of Jesus our faith is continually tested in numerous ways. The deeper our walk the greater the test. It’s like the old story about the man who was chased by a bear. In his attempt to outrun the bear he ran over a cliff and on the way down latched onto a limb. While hanging there in midair (hundreds of feet from the valley floor), he called out to God to help him. God said, “Do you trust me? The man quickly declared, “Yes, I believe and fully trust you.” Then God said,” Let go of the limb.”

Sometimes trusting God when we don’t see a logical way out is like the above story. We must trust God and be willing to let go of the limb. We must trust Him because of who He is and because of His proven faithfulness in the past. Each time we come to one of those moments and we trust God, even though our emotions are all over the place, our faith is increased. How does our faith increase? Because in the end God gives us what we really need – even though it is not what we prayed for. Faith must be tested in order to grow and have real value. Now you better understand what Paul said concerning his weakness and suffering. “I thank God for various temptations.” He knew that faith produces faith-building endurance.

Thirdly, during times of dryness we learn something about ourselves. There is a point in my conference presentation when I ask the audience,” Who is the person that gives you the greatest problem in life?” A few may answer the “devil”, and some may say it is their spouse. But the overwhelming majority of people answer, “It’s me”. When we turn toward pursuing God during times of Spiritual dryness, we begin to see ourselves as we really are. We quickly realize how our whole world is revolving around ourselves. We see our unforgiveness, our quickness to set someone straight, our self-protection and all those things that point to a lack of brokenness.

I vividly remember military boot camp. The best way to describe it was they took all my rights away. I couldn’t go and come as I pleased. I couldn’t talk unless spoken to. I had to go to bed and get up when they said, even when it meant getting up in the middle of the night just to march until daybreak. I had to march in the rain, crawl through the mud with my rifle under barbed wire with machine gunfire buzzing above my head. It wasn’t fair; why was I treated so badly, and subjected to such dangerous circumstances? I didn’t sign up for this! I just wanted to join the military. And to top it all off, they wouldn’t let me do things my way.

It wasn’t until the end of boot camp that I realized their overall purpose. They were breaking us down so they could make productive soldiers out of us. They were breaking down my self-sufficient, undisciplined will. Their goal was to make me a good soldier, one who followed orders without question and was ready for conflict in a moment’s notice. Wow, what a proud moment when our barracks came together as a unit.

In a similar manner, that’s what God is doing in our life. He allows us to experience trouble we can’t escape, people we love whom we can’t fix, and failures and disappointments we think we don’t deserve. In addition to all of that, there are bouts of loneliness and despair… all because He wants to break our stubborn self-will. He wants us to give up on our self-sufficiency and fully cast ourselves on Him and Him alone. Life in the Lord’s army is paradoxal. To receive, you must first give. To save your life, you must give it away to others. But the rewards are heavenly; there is rest for the soul, joy (inner peace), and daily fellowship with the Creator of the universe.

Next time you feel God has withdrawn from you remember these three things: (1) God is testing your faith: (2) He is showing you your self-sufficiency and; (3) it is His cue for you to readjust your priorities and pursue Him like never before. As we gaze on Him we are transformed.

“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” (2 Cor. 4:18)

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Union with Christ

For some reason, the typical follower of Christ falls into the trap of living their life under the umbrella of Performance Based Acceptance (PBA). That means in order to sense a degree of acceptance from God we must perform acts of service and devotion. For example, some feel that they must be involved in every program of the church, read a certain number of chapters in the Bible daily, set aside a designated place and time for daily prayer, and give a certain amount of money to the church in order to feel God’s acceptance.

Don’t get me wrong, all the above activities are things that every committed follower of Christ should be involved in. However, the problem is that when we do those things in order to feel accepted by God we fall into the devil’s subtle trap of believing that we must do something in order to receive God’s acceptance. It is better known as the “Cain mentality”.

Instead of receiving God’s acceptance through the blood sacrifice, Cain attempted to earn his own righteousness by bringing to the altar something he created instead of a blood sacrifice. We all know how that turned out for him. God never intended for man to earn His acceptance by good works. God’s ultimate intention is for us to receive His grace and acceptance through the finished work of Jesus on the Cross. Our works and service should be a reflection of our love and devotion, not an effort to earn His favor.

God offers a package deal. Christ and His sacrifice took care of all that separates man from God. Jesus paid our sin debt in full. All our sin is forgiven, past, present, and there is even a provision for our future sin. (1 John 1:9)

Union with Christ
We have eternal acceptance because we have union with Christ. Matter of fact, it is better to refer to our daily walk with the Lord as “fellowship” rather than “relationship”. Relationship smacks of something we have to do to maintain our position. Our relationship is eternally settled. We are in the family of God, we are joint heirs, we are grafted into the vine, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus – all because of our union with Christ. (Romans 6-8, 12:1-39 Ephesians 2:6, John 15)

In one spiritually judicious act (the death, burial and resurrection), we have been united with Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Here is a key Scripture in the form of Jesus’ prayer to the Father:

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone,(the disciples) but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me'” (John 17:20-23, NASB).

The above verse is a snapshot of God’s ultimate intention for His children. We are to be in Union with Him. That’s the reason Paul says in Colossians 2, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so (now) walk in Him.” In other words, since you are one with Christ, now walk in that oneness. We are to live with a moment to moment assurance that God’s indwelling never leaves us. We are never apart from His presence.

What does understanding and living out of our Union with Christ do for us? We have the potential of living from a position of victory and rest no matter what is going on in our life. We can rest assured that whatever we are going through, Christ is taking every step with us. He understands our frustration, our pain, our loneliness, our fear, our doubt. He is saying, “Yes, I know, just trust me and I will see you through.”

What a great way to begin a New Year, walking in your Union with Christ, knowing that because we are one with Him, all is well. Will you covenant with me this year to walk by faith in your Union with Christ? And will you choose, in the power of His strength, to trust God in every area of your life during 2014?

I pray that 2014 will be the best year ever for you and your family.

“May the God, who puts all things together, makes all things whole, who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant, who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd, up and alive from the dead, now put you together, provide you with everything you need to please Him, make us into what gives Him most pleasure, by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah. All glory to Jesus forever and always! (Hebrews 12:20-22 “The Message”)

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Preparing for the Pass-Through

After the disciples left their professions and began following Jesus, they were convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah and that He had come to deliver them from Roman tyranny. They believed that Jesus had come to setup his kingdom on earth. The more miracles He did the more they were convinced that Jesus was God and that the new kingdom on earth would soon be a reality.

But the disciples missed the point of why Jesus came to earth. He came to die that they might be delivered from the power and the penalty of sin. “For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own son…as an offering for sin.” (Romans 8:3).

to accomplish God’s purpose of redemption. Jesus had to go to the cross. So near the time of his crucifixion Jesus sat down with the disciples and had a very frank and direct conversation. We read about this event in John 12-14.
It was the last Passover in the upper room. Jesus was once again foretelling his death. Just before He washed the disciples feet they were arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom (Luke 22:24). They were self-focused, discouraged and confused. Then Jesus said to them;

“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so I would have told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going. Thomas said to Him, “Lord we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said, “ I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:1-6)

In this one statement Jesus revealed three eternal truths to the disciples that day.

1. I must go so I can pay your sin debt.
2. I am going to prepare a place for you because this is not your home. You are a pilgrim and a stranger just passing through this world temporarily.
3. In order to pass through this world you must first pass through me.

Notice the emphasis to “passing through” in the above statements. As a committed follower of Jesus, our whole life is about passing through. We first pass through Jesus for our salvation. We then take the position of passing through this life because we recognize that we are “other worldly”. This world is not our home because we are now strangers and pilgrims.

I recently read a summary of the book by Ron Pettey entitled “Heaven is Real”. It is the story about Ron dying on the operating table during brain surgery, and his visit to heaven and back. I don’t normally read books like this but I was intrigued by his story and it seemed believable to me.

In his visit to Heaven the angel refused his full entry because it wasn’t his time to die, he had to go back into his body and finish his time on earth. Before he left heaven he encountered several events including seeing the Lord Jesus. Here is his account of Jesus welcoming the saints into heaven.

“As the young man came near Jesus, the lad glanced at me and smiled. Then he disappeared, engulfed in the flowing sleeve of Jesus’ glowing garment. Suddenly, I realized the boy had literally passed through Jesus into Heaven.
The truth of John 14:6 suddenly became clear. “No one comes to the Father but through me.” Could it be that the scriptural reference to Jesus being the door and the gate into Heaven were not figurative as I had thought? My mind could scarcely contain what I had witnessed.” (Heaven is Real, http://www.rgministries.org)

Life is not about accumulating stuff, it’s about living our life surrendered to the one who is preparing a place for us. Heaven is the superior of everything good. It’s where we are meant to live, and experience all the best that Jesus has prepared for us.

As you reflect on the meaning of Christmas this year, remember that Christmas is not only about the birth of the Christ child, but it is also about celebrating the indwelling Christ, the One who we will ultimately pass through, and dwell with forever.

” To be “in the will of God” is not a matter of intellectual discernment, but a state of heart… It’s motto is –” My Father can do what he likes with me, He may bless me to death, or give me a bitter cup; I delight to do His will.”
– Oswald Chambers

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How do you feel about yourself?

Many of us have been taught “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 we long 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. Somehow we 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.

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, and a host of other attributes that God gives us at Salvation. (1 Cor. 1:2, 1:30; Ephesians 2:5, 2:10) If God gives us those things, then we should choose to believe what God says about us regardless of how we feel about ourselves. Remember, there is power in truth; it sets us free – free to be what God has destined and designed us to be.

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. Besides, how you feel about yourself is going to affect how you treat others.

The Scripture says that we are to “bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Every thought includes thoughts that don’t agree with God’s estimate of you, including those critical thoughts you feed yourself every day. We lost the right to beat up on ourselves when we gave our life to Christ.

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) Your facial expressions, your eyes and your body language say a lot about whether you are at peace with God and with yourself. When you are at peace with God and with yourself, Christ is lifted up and men and women are drawn to Him.

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 realize our need to abandon and surrender our lives to God. When we understand that the God of the universe can love and use us, then we are compelled to give our lives to Him. (Romans 2:4)

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.” 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 our strength, not our good performance and good deeds. (Romans 6)

When we are resting in and trusting the Lord for every aspect of our life we can effectively express His love to others. As we exhibit a humble and Christ-like kind of love for ourselves then we will be a conduit of God’s love to everyone we encounter.

Loving ourselves in the context of humility is a good thing. It allows us to be salt and light in order that the Holy Spirit might just open someone’s heart to Christ. You may be the only Bible someone will encounter, so receive Christ’s gift of His love for you and radiate that love in order that you may love others into the Kingdom.

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How do you get your acceptance?

When I conduct an Exchanged Life Conference I usually ask the audience, “How many of you felt like you were not the favorite sibling when growing up; you knew in your heart that you were loved, but you were definitely not the favorite?”

As you can imagine, a majority of hands would go up. It’s not uncommon for many people to feel some sort of rejection while growing up. Granted, some of the rejection was real and some of it was perceived, but regardless of whether it was real or perceived, it felt real. It reminds me of an old saying that, “Children are the best recorders of information but the worst interpreters.”

All of us were born with a natural, God-given desire to feel significant and accepted. You see that need very early in life as an infant. Many times an infant will be crying and there is no evidence of hunger, pain or discomfort. But the moment you pick them up and cuddle them, they immediately stop crying. That’s their signal they are looking for little security and acceptance.

As a child gets older they begin to develop how they fulfill a sense of acceptance. As a young child, a sense of acceptance may come in the form of mimicking their friend’s behavior, or desiring the latest fashion trend. Later as a teenager, it’s who you hang with, what you wear, or what music you listen to may be a defining measure of acceptance.

The need for acceptance and significance doesn’t end with adolescence. As an adult, this need for acceptance usually increases. If as a child you never felt fully accepted, the intensity to fulfill this unmet need often increases when you reach adulthood. A good example of this is when an adult changes behavior just to be accepted by a person or group.

Over the years I have counseled many adults who have gone through years of conflict with an adult parent. Through a divorce of their parents during childhood, they developed a sense of rejection and carry this rejection into adulthood. Somehow they related their parent’s separation as personal rejection.

Everyone, regardless of age or circumstances in life, has experienced some degree of rejection. Rejection always brings a sense of loss of acceptance and significance. This is a normal feeling, but it becomes a problem when we attempt to obtain this lost acceptance in the wrong way.

What do I mean by obtaining acceptance in the wrong way? God created man to get his acceptance, worth and security from Him. When we become a follower of Jesus we are spiritually and emotionally re- wired to get our acceptance, worth and security from who we have become in Christ. Colossians 2 makes this point very clear, “In Him we have been made complete…” If you think about it for a moment, God had a brilliant plan. What we could not do ourselves, (develop our own system of acceptance), God did for us in Christ.

God knew that when we try to fulfill our need for acceptance, worth and security from our parents, or from our job or from our natural talent or ability, we would always fall short. So He provided, through Christ in us, the ultimate acceptance, God’s full acceptance, 24/7.

He places us in Christ and then places Christ in us. (John 17:22-23). Did you get that? We are in Christ, so wherever He is we are. Christ is placed in us, so wherever we are He is. We are never separated from Him. Therefore, God always accepts us regardless of our performance, because we are in Christ. If God rejected us He would be also rejecting the Christ in us. He would never reject His Son.

We are now in a divine union with God through Christ Jesus that is in us. That is why we can say, “…even when we were dead in our transgressions, (God) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:5-6)

We can never earn God’s acceptance. His acceptance of us is determined by the judicial act of the Cross, whereby God allowed us to be made righteous through Christ blood that was shed for us. Jesus died for us and as us in order for us to be able to receive the righteousness of God. It’s a gift. (Ephesians 2:13-22)

So if you are still trying to get your parents, or your mates, or your coworkers or any other person’s acceptance, then stop right now and let go of that expectation and receive God’s free gift of full acceptance. Any acceptance that you can earn from men pales in comparison to God’s unconditional acceptance.

When God sent Jesus to redeem us, the redemption was a complete redemption. He redeemed us from our helpless sinful nature and then He placed us in Christ, and gave us a new nature. With that new nature (Christ’s life), we have a new source of worth, acceptance and significance.

Bottom Line: God’s intention for us is to get our acceptance in Christ. He has actually delivered us from the need to gain acceptance. We no longer have to strive to measure up to someone’s standard for acceptance. We have the Father’s love, acceptance and security simply by being in Christ.

He fulfills that longing for acceptance in our heart by giving us the ultimate acceptance and security. To be found “in Christ” is our ability to enjoy an acceptance that personal achievement and secular popularity could never give. “Inherent in who we are is our ability to perform it.”(Jack Taylor)

So during this Christmas season, if you sense rejection from someone significant, let it go. Stop trying to understand your rejection or stop trying to measure up to a standard that God does not even put on you. Just remember that Christ in you makes you accepted by God. Receive his acceptance as enough. You are complete in Him. So therefore, walk in Him and be overwhelmed by His love and unconditional acceptance.

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

Having A Thankful Heart

Many believers misunderstand the difference in “Being thankful” and “Having a thankful Heart.” There are two key verses related to the two principles. The first is found in 1 Thessalonians 4 18, “…in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” The other verse is Philippians 4:6,” Don’t be anxious about things; instead pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your request, so talk to God about your need and be thankful for what has come.”(The Voice)

Being thankful is an act of the will regardless of how we feel. It is also an act of trust and obedience. Being thankful is a result of, and prerequisite to, having a thankful heart. Being thankful is an overt act of obedience, and the sweet result is having a thankful heart.

Does that mean we are to be thankful when we receive tragic news like, “You have cancer” or “You have lost your job”, or when we lose a friend or loved one through death? Yes, we are to be thankful – but not how you might think. No one in his right mind would say, “Praise the Lord, I have cancer.” Or would they say, “Hallelujah, my close friend has died.” That would be delusional.

But what it does mean is that we are to be so dependent upon a sovereign God for every event and circumstance in our life that we look for God’s hand and blessings in the midst of the trial. What God really desires is for us to be so “other-worldly” that nothing can shake our confidence and trust in Him. He wants us living at the level where we know that God knows best, even though in the midst of our problem we can’t see the blue sky for the fog.

Can we mourn and feel the pain of loss and still be thankful? Sure, those are natural reactions to the events of life. But because we know that God has a bigger plan in mind, and He knows the impact of the event on our life before it happens, we thank Him for seeing us through the event. We have the assurance that because of God’s love and care for His children, He will successfully see us through.

So this Thanksgiving, reflect not only on the obvious things that you are thankful for, but as the Scripture so plainly teaches, “in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus”.

“And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the liberating King” Philippians 4:7 (The Voice)