Different Yet One

Differing approaches and insights to ministry, which sometimes bring division in a church, can actually bring healing to the whole body–when each considers the other as valid as his own. This is a statement that I believe with all my heart. If my goal is His truth and it is the same goal as another’s, then any differences are nothing in comparison to the ultimate purpose of His Good News.

One of the greatest examples of this is found in the lives of Paul and Barnabas. Paul was a leader. His mind was on the overall mission ministry. His focus and his purpose was to spread the Good News. Even though he was part of this mission ministry, Barnabas' focus was not just on that aspect of ministry. His mind was focused on the potential of John Mark who needed guidance and encouragement. What was Barnabas' goal? It was to help John Mark mature enough to be a viable witness. The approach was different, but the ultimate goal was the same.

Let's look at Acts 15:36-41. “Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.' Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches” (NIV).

They disagreed and they parted company. It was necessary for Paul to keep the overall ministry going. Paul did not have time to be weighed down with John Mark, who had once before deserted them. He could not use him and saw no potential in him. Paul was ready to move on. However, Barnabas saw something in John Mark that Paul could not see. He realized John Mark's potential. He believed if he invested his time in John Mark's life, then John Mark would mature into a viable witness for Christ.

Both views of ministry are absolutely necessary and each is as important as the other. Without the leaders whose minds and hearts are focused on the corporate ministry, there would be no ministry. Without ones like Barnabas, who realize potential and focus on individual growth, there would be no individuals to participate in ministry. The beauty is that after Barnabas took time with John Mark, he grew so much, that Paul invited him back into ministry. If Barnabas had not believed in John Mark, he would have never found his way back. If Paul hadn't believed in the overall ministry, and had allowed John Mark to go with them, then the overall ministry would have suffered. The two approaches ultimately came together for God's purpose.

That is what makes ministry beautiful to me. God has called each one of us in specific areas. When we see things differently, instead of thinking they are so far apart, we need to realize that they really aren't. That is how the body works when approach to ministry is different. You see the promise in each perspective, whether it is corporate, like Paul's, or individual, like Barnabas'. The end result is a beautiful tapestry of God's making. It is the different parts of the body, working together in unity to weave His best.

My Place of VIctory

My Place of Victory

It’s another valley, and it’s life. Suffering, fear of the unknown, and hardship are all trials. Without the grace of Jesus I could not sustain the trials of life. The valley reveals how much of His strength I have allowed in my life, and it reveals whether I shall fail or make it. It is in the valley where I discover who I really am and who He really is.

In the valley—in the midst of the trial, I can become weary and anxious when I don’t know what is next. “Do not be anxious about anything,” Paul wrote, “but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6:7). I pray with thanksgiving in my heart knowing that God is in control. No matter what my human mind perceives I believe in His omnipotence. I don't worry about anything because I petition and give that problem to God. Is He not also able to handle any problem? Thanking the Lord for His provision reveals faith, and brings His peace. The promise is clear. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7)

I sometimes make the valley more difficult by not applying my mustard seed of faith in the midst of the struggle. I miss the peace of God because I try to humanly analyze “why”. I miss His infinite grace which is meant to lift me above the trial. My mind can only be guarded from fear of the unknown when I thank God for His faithfulness, and when my mind dwells upon His infinite ability instead of my trial (Isaiah 26:3).

Dear Lord, I am willing to face the unknown with hope in your faithfulness to me. You may lift this, Lord, or it may remain for awhile. I will learn the spiritual lesson you wish to impart. I will seek you everyday and discover your burden is much lighter when I focus on you instead of what I fear. When I give you my trial, my fear, my pain, my struggle‒by letting it go in prayer and faith‒supernatural peace will claim my mind and heart. It is a peace that nothing in this world can offer, and it can only be found through the struggles of life. It is a gift from you to lighten my load. Lord, I don't believe that I am just meant to survive in the valley. I flourish because you have poured living water into what might have otherwise been a desert. You rule in my heart, Lord, and my valley becomes my place of victory.

Amen.

IF YOU LOVE ME

IF YOU LOVE ME.....

“I'm sorry, Lord. What should I do?” I ask God this morning. I feel that I have failed Him.

A voice answers, quietly, and softly. I am surprised by His candor. 

“Do you love me?”

I might have been Peter by the lake, leaning over a bed of hot coals, rubbing, warming my hands, and remembering another time, another place. 

“Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” I whisper, abruptly aware of my own failure.

“Do you love me?” He asks again.

“Lord, you know I love you.” I repeat, my voice ringing hollow even to my own ears.

“Do you love me?” He repeats gently in my heart, I am reminded of my failure.

“Yes, Lord, I love you.” Weeping now, I wait for release.

“If you love me....” The words pause.

I feel His touch, lifting my chin to peer into eyes that also once burned into Peter’s. It is at this moment the failure is gone, and I, lost in His gaze, overwhelmed by His love, know I have been forgiven.

“Then feed my sheep,” He whispers.

It is a soft command, not demanding, not pleading, but just a statement of fact.

Feed His sheep? I know what He wants, but I am always aware of how I feel that I fail in that area. I never feel that I give Him enough of myself. But I pickup my laptop, and wait for words to form in my heart and in my mind. I pray that they will be His words and not my own.

This is what He has always intended for me. As He has loved, so must I love through each word I write. I am to inspire others also to love—His child with little hope, the one who offends, the woman lost, and the man deep in sin. We are just as Peter. The redeeming love that looked beyond Peter’s failure, and called for His best, also calls for ours. In tenderness He brings us to our place of failure, reminds, and forgives. 

Gently He then calls, “Feed my sheep.” The compassionate heart of Jesus which loves you shall love another at his own coal fire. 

“If you love me…” he whispers.

ONCE MORE.....CHANGE

Change is inevitable. It can be frightening, but, if my life is safely hidden in God, I cannot fear change. He never changes, and remains the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is my constant foundation in this vacillating world. I will trust Him when what happens seems frightening. I will learn His lesson, and apply it to my life. It makes the next change, whether good or bad, easier to handle, because I have learned spiritual balance and poise in a world that offers no solid foundation.

His power to handle change is available at all times. I will claim it, and use it constantly in life’s changing moments. His power, His strength, His faithfulness, His consistency, His balance-it is all mine to exercise everyday. I can never ask too much of God. His provision is unending. He is unending. Living in Jesus Christ is abundance beyond any measure.

“See, I am doing a new thing!” the Lord proclaims. “Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise” (Isaiah 43:19-21).

 

Whatever change lies ahead, He has made a way to provide exactly what is needed for my journey. I am His child, and He will not forsake or leave me. I will praise Him and accept His joy. It is His gift to me.

Dear Lord,

Today I come to you faced with changed. It appeared suddenly with no warning. You are my only constant. Everything else in my life will change. Loved ones will come and go. Feelings will come and go. But you are my constant anchor in this rocky life, and I will always be safe and secure in you. Where you are, Lord, there is freedom from bondage to fear or pain or hurt or disillusionment. Where you are is love and joy.  Help me to count all my days, and live wisely and sacrificially. The days and moments of this life are what I give you. I want it to be more than enough in your eyes. I stand with my eyes only on you, and my heart secure in your hands, knowing I am being molded into what you wish. And in this I find your perfect peace.

Amen.

Forgive

Part of this devotional comes from one I wrote a few weeks ago. My heart hurts for someone this morning that is struggling to forgive. Whoever you are, I’m praying for you.

FORGIVE

Have you ever been hurt by someone you love or trust?  At sometime in your life, someone will hurt you or disillusion you. What you do with that hurt is paramount. Give it to God, and its power to control you ends. But kept inside your heart it festers and grows. Unforgiveness is a terrible cancer. It eats at your spiritual health and ultimately destroys your relationship with God. God has given man a free will to choose or reject Him, and you also have a free will to forgive or not to forgive.

            “Do not judge,” Jesus instructs, “and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). Isn’t the inability to forgive really judgment of that person? Your hurt and your pain do not give you a license to judge that person. It does not give you a license to be angry.

            When you are devastated by someone's action, you have a choice what to do with the disillusionment and hurt. If you allow that hurt to define who you are, bitterness will be your banner. It will immobilize you. You are then in bondage to your pain. The Holy Spirit invites you to acknowledge your pain so you might forgive. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” Paul writes (2 Corinthians 3:17). God does not want you in bondage to your hurt or your disillusionment over someone else’s failure. That hurt can become your own failure. If you know the Lord, you have the freedom and the power to forgive.

            Are you tired of the hurt you feel when another person doesn’t live up to Christ’s sacrificial love? Have you ever considered that your hurt also keeps you from living up to it? Let the pain go. Let the disillusionment and hurt go. Look to Christ as your perfect sacrifice because no one else can be that. Realize that no one is perfect. The Lord “will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you, and will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

           You shall no longer be in bondage to your pain. Your heart will be free, and who the Lord sets free, is free indeed.

What is my life?

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:2-4).

Is my life one of hope? Do I encourage others when they are unable to encourage themselves? Am I sensitive to someone's pain, or do I unconsciously throw fuel on the fire of their pain by casual words that have not been inspired by God? Do I put the needs of others before my own or do I find a way to “just do enough”? In my words or actions, I speak life or death to another person. I want to speak life where there has been death, and I want to bless those who feel cursed with the healing presence of Christ.

So what is my life? I pray it is one that always sees with His eyes, hears with His eyes, and understands with His spirit in order to help someone else realize their potential in Him. I pray it is one that puts another before myself. I pray that it is one that always loves and encourages with His truth. I pray that it is one that never lets go of believing in His promise for someone else. I pray that it is one that is broken and spilled out as He was broken and spilled out for me.

It's Simple

“More is better” is the cry of this fast-paced world. Everywhere we turn we are told that we need something else to complete our lives. But what we desire and ultimately possess, does not complete anything. It creates a lust for more. We feel stressed, exhausted, and always lacking. The hurried pace to have more overwhelms us, and we are lost in its control. Christ teaches us that we can be free from this horrendous struggle. It will not be our master, because we are under grace (Romans 6:14). We can learn how to live simply in Him.

The simplicity that Christ offers frees us from the rat race of life and brings peace to our harried existence. This grace teaches that we are more important than what we own. Possessions are not meant to possess us. They are meant to enrich our lives. When we learn to live simply, we discover that people are more important than what they have. The complexity of life becomes one of peaceful simplicity. 

“This is not possible,” you say. “How can I live a simple life in this world that demands me to achieve… to be better… to have more… to climb to the top?” It is not possible when your heart has not reached a place of surrender. It is not possible when you are the one in control of the desires of your heart and not Him. It is not possible when your flesh is more powerful than His Spirit. But it is possible when your heart lets go of its own desires and seeks His will. Because His will is simple. His message is simple. His heart is simple. Love as He has loved you. Not things, but others. 

Christian simplicity is a discipline of mind that comes from a heart that has been broken from its own selfishness, and given the grace to live selflessly. It is a grace bestowed by God. We cannot will ourselves to live selflessly and simply. It is a gift that we must receive from Him. It is a gift that must be consciously surrendered in His service again and again.

Simplicity in Him frees us from what encumbers. It liberates us from the bondage of things. It focuses our mind and heart on what is important. His love. His forgiveness. His purpose. His heart. It frees us to give ourselves away because He has become more because we have become less. We can find His simplicity that liberates. We can discover a haven that inspires. We can have peace when faced with an overwhelming world. We can be content in the midst of unrest. It begins in our heart, and frees us from the tyranny of emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental havoc. Whoever He sets free is free indeed (John 8:36).

My Friend

 “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me,” David rejoiced in Psalm 42:7. The unfathomable depth of the Spirit of God calls to the depth of the Holy Spirit within a man, and bids that man come. When the Holy Spirit is the caller, then it is the man surrendered to the Holy Spirit, who accepts

.

My friend, you heard the Lord calling, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for me?” And you answered, “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)

You, dear friend, have heard His call, and you have answered.  You have not guarded your heart. Your spirit knows that “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Him and for the gospel will save it. (Matthew 8:35)

Go and find your life, dear friend. Stand strong in His Word and His promise. Hold on to His call no matter what you face, and always realize that He is your Reason. No matter what lies ahead, He is your Reason.  And you shall realize that He has delivered you from death, your eyes from tears, and your feet from stumbling so that you may stand true and strong in Him.  What shall you give back to Him for all His blessings to you? In the presence of all, you will raise His Word of salvation, and fulfill His call on your life. (Psalm 116:12-14). 

There shall be no words to express your heart’s fulfillment. You will be fully known and found in Him.

Molded

^“So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 18:3-5).

To be molded by God means I conform to His desires. I am cut as a diamond, chiseled as stone, and made pliable as clay.  It is not only His work, but it is also mine. Mine is submission and willingness to change–to let go of what is not right in my heart and in my life. I must recognize any selfishness in my motives, actions, or thoughts, and instantly pray for God’s help to remove them.  

I know that His divine power has given me everything I need to grow spiritually and have a godly life. I gain that through knowledge of Him in His word, and through surrender to His will for my life. He has given me precious promises for my life so that I might have more of Him, and less of my sinful self. For this very reason I shall make every effort to add to my faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. If these qualities are increasing in my life, nothing will keep me from being effective and productive in living for Him (2 Peter 1:3-8).

This is a work in my heart and life that needs both His power and my surrender. At first it is a work that can be disheartening. As I surrender to His power and my eyes are open, I see so much more that needs to be done in me. But I determine to persevere and not let what is ahead discourage me. I will remember that it is His power that brings change. 

As I grow I learn courage by surrendering my fear; I learn patience by surrendering my control, and I learn perseverance by surrendering my struggle. He is with me, and as this cooperative work in my life is done–through my surrender and His power, His qualities increase in my life. I am molded into a useful tool in His hands. I am formed into whatever He deems best.

Does it hurt to be molded? Letting go of who I am for who is?  At first, yes, because I must allow Him to mold me, and that hurts. There is no other way to say it. It hurts to give up selfishness and what I want. It hurts to let go of that control that has meant so much. But it is in the letting go and letting Him mold me, I discover His joy and His purpose. I discover that what I thought was “glory” in my own life, is nothing compared to the “glory” I find in His.

The Cost is My Life

Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:18-19).

 

 

       I am getting closer to the age when I may not be able to dress myself, and where someone else will lead me. As we all get older we face the fact that independent living will lessen. Someone else will probably be more responsible for our well-being. In John 21:18-19 Jesus uses this example of age to indicate to Peter the cost of commitment. Earlier in chapter 21 Peter has proclaimed his obedient devotion. He has told Jesus three times that he loves him, and in response Jesus has told him to feed His sheep.  Now in verse 18 Jesus tells Peter what that obedient love will cost him, and what his promise to feed the sheep really entails. Jesus compares Peter's life up to this point with what lies ahead. Peter has been rebellious at times throughout his years with Jesus, and now Jesus informs him what true commitment will cost him. Everything. Complete and absolute surrender. Jesus tells Peter that when he is old he will stretch out his hands, and someone else will dress him and lead him where he does not want to go. This is an explicit contrast between Peter's self-willed life, and his life coming under the will of the Master. He has just submitted his will, and now Jesus says such submission is going to include being taken where he does not want to go.

 

    The next statement from Jesus is a call to Peter to make good on His promise to love the sheep. Jesus says,“Now follow me, and I will be responsible for you, Peter. I will take care of you, but it will cost you everything. It will cost your life.” Christ, the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep, and now Peter must give all of himself for the Master. In submitting his will to God, Peter’s death, like Jesus’ death, shall be the will God. In I John 3:16 and 4:18 we read that in the death of Jesus the glory of God is revealed. God gave His Son for mankind. This is the greatest love-laying down your life for another. In John 21:19 Jesus predicts that Peter’s death will also glorify God.

 

    Death to self-will glorifies God. I must love God no matter what it costs. I must love God no matter what I want. I must be willing to walk the road of discipleship and not look back. I must discover my joy in His service, because I serve Him from a sold-out heart.  I give Him all of myself, and all the things I do for Him. Praying with people, taking time for others, loving those who are unlovable, believing in another’s potential even though nothing seems to change, sharing faith when it is easy and when it is hard, teaching God’s Word, having a teachable spirit, encouraging when I am tired, studying the Bible....these all things I do because I love Him.

 

    A sold-out attitude is not “oh, well, I must do this for Christ.” I do what I do for Jesus because I love Him for loving me-for saving me from my self.  How can I have a miserable attitude when He has given all for me? How can I be sad or bitter if He lives in me? I want to give Him all as Peter gave his all in the end. In that surrender I find joy that is indescribable, and peace that is only real when it is found in His will for my life. If I always serve Christ remembering what service cost Him, then I will know His joy. He is the Vine, and I am the branch. He is the life that flows through me only when I give Him all of me. In giving all of myself to Him, I discover in the good and bad circumstances of my life, that serving Him is the greatest reward.