Perspective

I've been reading an excellent book and have some insights to share from it. If you're interested, it's called "Lies Women Believe" - Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

So when was the last time you took a hard look at the "lens" you've put on, the influences you've allowed to surround you, the lies you've listened to and entertained, and stopped to ask yourself how you're building this "view". How does it compare to what the BIBLE has to say about it? How have you let OTHER things shape how you think, how you feel, and the decisions you make everyday?

After all, if we're Christians, shouldn't we be using the Bible as our guide, applying Truth to our lives?

Please allow me to give three simple examples:

1) On happiness and suffering
"By convincing us that our suffering is undeserved or unnecessary, the Enemy succeeds in getting us to resent and resist the will and purposes of God." - Nancy Leigh DeMoss

"We tend to look at circumstances of life in terms of what they may do to our cherished hopes and convenience, and we shape our decisions and reactions accordingly. When a problem threatens, we rush to God, not to seek His perspective, but to ask Him to deflect the trouble. Our self-concern takes priority over whatever it is that God might be trying to do through the trouble...An escapist generation reads security, prosperity, and physical well-being as evidences of God's blessing. Thus when he puts suffering and affliction into our hands, we misread his signals and misinterpret his intentions." - Arthur Mathews

How then can we cultivate an attitude and spirit and heart that embraces suffering as a pathway to sanctification and doorway into greater intimacy with God?

The truth is, God is more interested in our holiness than our "temporal happiness". Our motivation and desire should not be seeking to make me "happy" or fulfill SELF but rather how this brings God greater glory (1 Cor. 10:31) because true joy is not the absence of pain or suffering but the presence of Christ amidst the pain.

2) On feelings, emotions and circumstances
The world bombards us constantly with messages that are completely wrong and contrary to what Scripture teaches. That we should do whatever we "feel" like, that we're subject to our emotions and they should run our lives. But we're to choose to fix our minds on Christ, to exercise our will OVER our emotions, based on Truth (Col. 3:1-2, 2 Cor. 10:5, Is. 26:3).

And instead of being "victims" to our circumstances, we need to take OWNERSHIP and RESPONSIBILITY over our lives. Stop being passive, complacent and lazy about change that is necessary and beneficial, areas of your life that are out of control, dominated by sin...DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, surrender to God, and change.

We should strive to live PASSIONATE lives for God, where we can be salt and light, to spur one other towards love and good deeds, and Christ-likeness.

The truth is, through Christ's redemptive work, we have victory over sin (Rom. 6:12-14, 22), we can choose to bring our thoughts captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5), and to learn be content in all circumstances, not letting them control us (Phil. 4:11-12).

Let's stop making excuses and deal with the root issues (idolatry, unconfessed sin, pride, lack of surrender, laziness, etc.) and start being honest with God, going to Him and asking Him to TRANSFORM us and then COOPERATING and actively PARTICIPATING with Him through the change.

3) The meaning of "forever"
Do we really have a proper understanding of life here on earth as it relates to eternity? Our lives here are but a blip on the map. How does that affect the urgency of the gospel message?

Here's a sobering thought - some friendships I thought would be "forever" will never last that long, because in reality, they do not know Christ as their Savior and our friendship will end when one of us dies.

Even FAMILY relationships that we'd like to believe will last "forever" will be severed as well if they are not "saved". Think hard about that. When will we start praying for our loved ones? When will we start to really serve, love, and live our lives as a true Christian witness to them?

And I've learned this past year, what it means to really be "saved", that there are people who may know all about God, say all the right things, have a deeply religious experience, attend church, even HAD great interest in spiritual matters at one time, but it's completely possible that they could never really have been converted. Only God knows the heart.

He has given us some objective standards by which we may measure a profession of faith - whether ours or someone else's.

-Obedience to God's commands. (1 John 2:3-4)
-Walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:5-6)
-If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15)
-Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10)

"Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." - Heb. 3:12-13

No true believer can sin willfully and habitually without experiencing the conviction of God's Spirit. No matter how fervent they may have appeared to be at one time, if they do not have any heart or hunger for God, if they have a consistent pattern of rejecting the Word and ways of God, they need to challenged to reconsider whether they were ever really converted in the first place. (New life, new heart, new nature, new allegiance, new master - See also 2 Cor. 5:17, Col. 1:13)

On the other hand, "forever" is not defined by what we're experiencing right now here on earth. That everything that has taken place in this life will just be a comma, a breath in light of eternity. So if you're suffering or dealing with trials, or something painful that seems like it will NEVER change...praise God that even if it goes on your whole entire life here on earth, eternity is a LOT longer, and this trial is not going to last "forever".

And if you're feeling wonderful and happy because of sin (Heb. 11:25) you must realize that there are ALWAYS consequences, that it's NEVER worth it, and we will be called to account (Heb. 4:13, Ecc. 12:14).

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." - Gal. 6:7

Please remember how short our lives are here on earth, that our citizenship is in heaven and that we're just passing through. We need to make the most of our time, carefully walking WISELY (Eph. 5:15). We're to set our minds on things above, to cultivate a healthy longing for heaven, an eagerness to be with Jesus (Phil. 1:23) and to BE HOLY AS GOD IS HOLY (1 Pet. 1:15).

I pray we can all take time to re-examine our "lenses" and to make sure that we're seeing clearly - through a Biblical perspective - working hard to counter Satan's lies with the Truths that flow through Scripture, DAILY.

Grace and peace to you.

So long self

Let's start with this:

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Gal. 2:20 (ESV)

"Do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." - Phil. 2:3-4 (NASB)

"[love] does not seek its own" - 1 Cor. 13:5

I played on the basketball team in high school....those were the good 'ol days! Anyway, for the home games, there was a "program" with our roster info and we were interviewed one year about what we thought was the world's greatest problem. I think most people said hunger, materialism, racism or war or something like that.

Can you guess what my answer was? Selfishness. Pretty profound for a teenage athlete don't you think? :)

But isn't that so true? When we look at the heart of most of our anger and irritations in life, where we feel like our "rights" have been violated, it stems from pride, and focusing on ME.

I will be honest...that's one thing I'm good at - I want to hurt people when they hurt me. I want to say and do mean things to them. I want them to pay for what they did. I seek this revenge and punishment because I've been wronged. It is really easy to get caught into this trap.

But then I have to catch myself - someone who professes to be a Christian, a follower and slave of Christ. I must stop and think hard about the type of reaction and witness I'm supposed to give. I'm to CHOOSE to do what is right, to obey what God says. And it is HARD.

So I take a few deep breaths, step back, and think deeply about why I feel hurt, and why I'm angry, and ask myself, is it because I'm so focused on ME? And most of the time, the answer is yes.

And after some prayer and conviction by the Holy Spirit, asking God to humble me, I realize that I'm in no place to demand anything, that any sins against me pale in comparison to my sins against God. That Christ came as a servant, lowly, gentle and humble, that I am to forbear and forgive and love even when it feels impossible. That I am to die to self and live for Christ.

I haven't had the opportunity to be a wife or mother yet, but I expect, from what I hear and understand that there's no place for "selfishness" there.

God has been growing me, teaching me, in this season of my life, to work on me, to be content IN CHRIST alone, to learn how to love and serve and die to self as I relate to those around me...so that IF it pleases Him and would bring Him greater glory, I could one day be granted those opportunities. And I do trust God with this (Ps. 37:4).

Dear friends, may we continue to fight those selfish desires (because that is our fallen nature, the default) and learn how to deny ourselves so we can do what does not come naturally - to truly love God and others.

I leave you with this:
"If you must cry, sorrow over sin, the lost, hurts of others FIRST."
"If you must boast, celebrate Christ's redeeming work, God's blessings, others' joys FIRST."
"If you must, look not to your own needs, but ask God for self-control and the grace to love others FIRST."

Grace and peace to you.

Built for relationship

Dear friends,

As many of you know, I've been meaning to start a blog for a while now instead of filling your inboxes with my periodic mass emails. Here's my first blog entry. May it "give grace to those who hear" (Eph. 4:29).

So I'll begin with this topic, because we all deeply want to belong, feel connected, share, express and bond with others. Isn't it so true that one of our most basic needs in life is relationship? Most, if not all, of our deepest and richest memories and experiences, problems, hurts and joys come from relationships.

Makes sense. God built us that way. We're emotional, relational beings.

At the same time, there good and bad ways to relate. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to build relationships. And I've learned how important it is to understand and maintain proper boundaries, to follow carefully after Scripture (the Creator's manual) for our lives - "to keep the good in, and the bad out" and "feed the Spirit, starve the flesh" (see Rom. 8:5-8, 12-14).

Also, in order to thrive and grow well in our walks with God and each other, we all need support systems; we all need community.

Proverbs 13:20 - "He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."

Hebrews 12:24 - "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds"

Proverbs 27:5,6 - "Better is open rebuke than love that is concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy."

Proverbs 27:17 - "Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

Galatians 6:2 - "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."

Galatians 6:10 - "So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."

Ephesians 4:2 - "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

John 13:34, 35 - "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

I'll not go much longer today as I'm nursing a bit of a cold. I just want to encourage you to reflect on the positive and negative influences in your life, how you're allowing others to shape who you are...and whether or not you've given proper attention to the MOST important relationship you have - that with God himself.

Have you kept your appointments to meet with Him? Do you have your priorities straight? Have you let something or someone become your idol? Is there unconfessed sin that is preventing you from drawing near to your heavenly Father? Will you yield control of your life to God and let His way be your way?

Life throws us all sorts of curve balls. There's no question we're going to go through peaks and valleys. But I know is this much to be true:
1) God is good. He's always in control. And there's nothing I can't trust Him with.
2) We're not to go at it alone. We can practice discernment and seek wise counsel.
3) I'm to be responsible for me - my thoughts, my responses, my decisions. I'm to surrender daily to the Lordship of Christ in my life, to allow God to change me into someone that better reflects Christ (Rom. 8:29).

Grace and peace to you.