Year: 2014

Categories
Worship

My Failure To Appreciate God’s Greatest Reward

a present symbolizing receiving a rewardWe all like presents. We all want rewards.

I remember as a little fella, being excited when Dad would come home from a business trip, and me and my brothers would immediately be asking – “Dad, what did you bring us?” We were hoping for some reward, some present. And though we didn’t express it properly, the bigger and better reward that we should have been most excited about was that Dad had returned home.

I have often heard people talking about serving God so that they will get a reward. This is not an un-biblical idea, but sometimes I wonder if our motives might be “in the wrong place”? If I am serving just in order to get a reward from God, am I serving Him or am I serving myself?

What is the blessing that I am looking for as I serve?
The Reward of Heaven?
The Reward of Escaping Hell?
The Reward of special Crowns I might receive?
The Reward of the End of Sadness?
The Reward of a New Body with no more Pain?

If I am only serving for my benefit, who am I really serving – myself or Jesus?

Maybe I should be more concerned about the simple reward of the joy of living with Christ. Isn’t that sufficient? Maybe I should focus more on the reward of being in a relationship with Him day-by-day.

Jon Piper asked it this way:
“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven…if Jesus Christ were not there?

Too often, we can be more focused on getting God’s blessings than enjoying the blessing of His relationship.

Too often I find myself wanting God to bless me, instead of being focused on answering the question, “God, how can I bless You?” I think it is time for me to focus more on how I can use my life to bless Him – and enjoy the reward of exalting Him more than seeking to receive a reward that exalts me.

What do you think… in your experience, do more people desire the things Jesus gives or do more people desire Jesus Himself? Are people too focused on asking “God, what did You bring us?” instead of being focused on the fact that He has given us a relationship with Himself?

(quote from John Piper, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself)

Categories
Christian Living

Becoming an Expert at Putting Others First

someone walking in dusty boots symbolizing us getting dirty at putting others firstIn my most recent post I indicated that we must get our hands “dirty” by working hard at this thing called discipleship – walking beside someone to help them grow in Christ-likeness. The reason we must do this is that:
     “The fundamental way that we are going to see Jesus save people across the globe is through discipleship…. the good old fashioned, life-on-life, person-to-person, dirty, messy process of teaching people to obey all that Jesus had commanded. Showing people with our words and our lives how to follow and magnify the Risen Savior” (Kevin Peck).

And if our calling is to make disciples who are obedient to Christ, then we must be models of obedience to Christ. Do you consider yourself a model in this area for others? You strive to be an expert in your field of business. You strive to be the most knowledgeable and capable person at what you are being paid to do. Yet the One who created you has called you to be an expert in discipleship and disciple-making. How well are you excelling in this area?

As disciples and disciple-makers, we must be willing to do God’s will even if it hurts. Putting others first – putting their interests above our own – is not something we are very good at. We think others should make us the center of the universe. But that is not the model that Jesus provided to us – this One who put my interests ahead of His own and left Heaven to come serve me. If He did that for me, then why do I have such a hard time putting your interests ahead of mine? Jesus tells us to serve like He did.

Let me give some practical example of what putting others first might look like.

That might mean rethinking your Marriage Contract as a Marriage Covenant … and instead of asking your spouse “what have you done for me today”, constantly having the attitude of “what can I do for you today?”

Becoming a discipleship expert might mean it is time for you to engage in Forgiveness – forgiving others as Jesus told Peter to do – always and completely. Who do you need to forgive? Your spouse, a family member, a coworker, a neighbor?

Or discipleship might mean Apologizing – How many of us have known people who, when they made mistakes, refused to apologize even when they knew they were wrong? How many of us are like that right now? Some of us need to throw away our pride and apologize to some people we know we have hurt.

Matthew Henry stated: “Those who are best prepared for the life to come are those that hold most loosely to this present life.”

Let us hold loosely to this life and hold on so desperately tight to Jesus, so much so that we are willing to be obedient to His command to serve others even if it hurts. Let us strive to be experts in discipleship – including putting others first.

I only named three discipleship areas we may be neglecting. What other discipleship qualities have we possible neglected and need to re-instill in our Christian walk?

Categories
Relationships

The Best Way To Impact The World

God has a plan to impact the world, and you have a key part to play in the plan.

Your role is to help the people around you connect with Christ and grow in godliness. That includes your spouse, your children, your extended family, your coworkers, and your neighbors. It is a slow, messy process that means you will have to invite a small number of people into a relationship with you so that you can share life together. Though there were many that influenced me, I had three key people do this for me – two of them were my parents and the third one was Richard.
two friends walking together
Richard invited me into his “circle” though I was an immature, know-it-all college student. And he walked me through discipleship by letting me walk beside him in everyday life so I could see how a Christian adult man should live with Jesus and for Him. Richard did a great job of putting his own interests aside for the express purpose of helping me grow in my knowledge of God’s Word and in developing Christ-like character. It took time because I was dense and stubborn! (I still am!) But he was patient. I have attempted to take what I learned from walking beside Richard and invite others to walk beside me. But this is a slow process that can become frustrating to us since we like to see things happen quickly. But lives just don’t change that fast. Are you willing to impact the world one-life-at-a-time in this slow, messy process called discipleship?

Here is an excerpt from an article on this idea of walk-beside-someone-discipleship:

     The fundamental way that we are going to see Jesus save people across the globe is through discipleship.
      That’s right, the good old fashioned, life-on-life, person-to-person, dirty, messy process of teaching people to obey all that Jesus had commanded. Showing people with our words and our lives how to follow and magnify the Risen Savior.
      That’s it – it may not be sexy, it may not sell books, but it is how God designed his redemption plan.
      We’ve all heard this before, I know. But think about it. To most of us, it seems nuts. The Son of God comes to earth and rather than staying and preaching for 40 years, He spends three years investing in 12 men and then he leaves! …What?! Surely we could come up with something new, maybe more efficient, maybe even as a backup plan? No. There isn’t a plan B, and there doesn’t need to be one. Discipleship is God’s choice plan for redeeming the world.
      This is not profound. It’s not new. It’s simply not finished. And most of us simply refuse to accept it. When it comes down to it, for most of us being as successful as Jesus was at developing leaders would feel like a wasted life.
      See how that’s a problem? To think little of this model and to reject this model is to reject God’s ordained means to accomplish His mission.
      The reality is if you reach only 12 in your life, it’s a win. It will probably feel like you’re spending too much time with a few and neglecting the many, but this is precisely how God will redeem every last one of His own!

Jesus’ model definitely seems time-consuming and difficult in our “I want it now” society. The reason it seems so time-consuming and difficult is because it is so time-consuming and difficult to walk beside another person in this slow, messy process. But it is the model He used and the one He expects us to use. It’s time to get your hands dirty. Who can you invite to walk beside you in discipleship? Who does God want you to be responsible for training in Christlike living and God-honoring character?

(article excerpt by Kevin Peck – “Without This Your Missional Movement Will Fail”)

Categories
Christian Living

Freedom from Suffering

“Suffering affects each of us in three ways:
1. Suffering as the result of living in a fallen world (e.g., infertility, natural disasters, etc.);
2. Suffering as the result of my personal sin (e.g., addictions, anger, racism, etc.); and
3. Suffering as the result of someone else’s sin (e.g., victims of abuse, hate, anger, etc.).
Our churches are filled with people in every category.”

Because of this suffering, we want freedom – in fact, we need freedom. But how will we get this freedom? Jesus tells us that we can only receive complete liberty by becoming his disciples – and that occurs through faith in Him and obedience to His Word. Therefore, our task is to lead people out of suffering into the way of freedom by pointing them to the only One who can give freedom. After we choose to begin a relationship with Him, He will start pointing out areas in our life that need to be “cleaned up.” He will also give us the power to obey Him.

“In the end, therefore, the goal or aim of gospel-centered leadership is the formation of Christ in people who long to see the formation of Christ in other people. We are called to make disciples who make disciples. It should be clear from what we know about our own sanctification process that this is a slow, arduous calling requiring patience and perseverance…. Discipleship is long, slow, and messy. In short, it’s hard to measure.”

checklistThat is why it is not something that we can just “check off the list.” Instead, discipleship (and therefore complete freedom) is something that takes a life-time to accomplish – but it is so worth it! I continue to be amazed at how faithful God is at giving me freedom from suffering and freedom from worry as I turn more of my life over to Him. I hope you’ll join me in testing this promise of God to its full measure.

We will find Him faithful!

(Quotes from ‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)

Categories
Serving Others

What Attitude Will You Take To Your Workplace Today?

Your Workplace…workplace caution sign stating - caution, people working

Does it ever get stressful?
Do you ever find it frustrating?
Are the situations you experience there unfair?

Certainly your workplace has some significant challenges. And yet, it is where God has placed you right now. He might move you somewhere different tomorrow, but for today… He has you in your current situation. And wherever He has placed you, there are people there that need you to serve them.

That isn’t always a cheerful thought, because we would prefer that someone serve us. But as a follower of Christ, you are called to be a servant… even to those rascals you work with!

“In the Workplace, believers are given an opportunity through the gospel to serve in several different directions—upward, downward, and laterally.”

“Serving upward means consistently working hard, knowing you ultimately work for the Lord. Believers should be the best employees on the job because they realize their work is truly done for God’s glory. Serving one’s supervisor well is a means of serving Christ Well. And if a believer works for another believer, he should serve that person even better.” (see 1 Tim. 6:1—2 & Col. 3:23-24).

“Believers Who are supervising others are given the opportunity to serve downward. By treating employees well and fairly, calling out the best of their gifts, the supervisor honors his or her ultimate Boss in heaven, who sees everything that’s done on the job…and who is not impressed with the lines and boxes on the org chart.” (see Col. 4:1).

“Most believers are also given the opportunity to serve laterally, assisting the colleagues who work alongside them. Because of the gospel, believers should encourage and serve these who are equal to them in responsibility, without being a burden to them, without being the slouch at the office who must continually be bailed out by others. One of the best ways a believer serves those who work alongside him is just to do his job well. That alone is more spiritual and gospel-centric than many people realize.” (see 1 Thess. 4:11-12).

You have the opportunity today to be a Workplace Pastor to the people who serve above you, below you, and beside you. How will you use that opportunity?

Why do we find it so hard to embrace this role of Workplace Pastor to serve those around us?

(Quotes from ‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)