Which way did he go?

Do you know what your primary task is as a Christian? If you turn on the television or listen to the radio, you might think your purpose is never to get sick, or to have wealth, or to be debt free. Honestly, none of those have anything to do with purpose. The MAY be a benefit, but none of them have a thing to do with purpose.

I see a lot of Christians wandering around trying to figure out what they should be doing. For some, it's going to church every week. For others, it's experiencing God in nature or by looking at the beauty of the world around them. These people "see God everywhere."

In reality, every Christian should be on the same path and the same journey. This is regardless to whether we are called to be Pastors, Teachers, Singers... whatever.

Our mission, if we choose to accept is is explained in 2 separate scriptures. They are Jesus last words to all of us after He was resurrected and before He ascended into heaven for the last time before His glorious return.

Then Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing the in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matt 28:18-20 NLT

Jesus basically says the only way there will be new disciples is if we teach them and baptize them. That... is a straight forward mission. That is the compass that should guide our daily lives. Jesus says - because He has been given all authority, we should go... and He will be with us until the end of the age. Because Jesus says "to the end of the age" we know it's ongoing. It was not until the end of their lives... it's what they were suppose to do, what we are suppose to do, and what the disciples after us... are suppose to do!

In case that wasn't enough, Jesus says this one more time:

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, "Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?" 

He replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - In Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:6-8

Jesus was very keen to try to keep them focused. Don't be concerned with the times, or the geopolitical climate. I have given you power. And because of this, you are to be my witnesses telling people everywhere about me!

Here's what I want you to struggle with this weekend... ask God to show you how and with whom you can share Him. Let your compass be the word of God, and help others find their true direction.

First things first...

In a moment of complete vulnerability, I freely admit that I miss the mark sometimes. That's one of the reasons why I blog. It helps me prioritize. Honestly, I think I write more for myself than for any of you. That's because I believe in God and more than anything else, I want to be in a place where He can use the gifts and the talents that He has given me. That's why I blog anonymously. I am not interested in you following me, as much as I am interested in you following God.

Lately, I've been feeling a little... down. Partially because I feel like I've been pouring out on this blog and a few others that I write, and some other projects that have been going on and I feel... empty.

The last blog post about seeking God in the quietness helped a lot. I received my "course correction" and decided to share it with you!

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matt 6:33 KJV

It is so easy to get caught up in everyTHING that we forget the FIRST thing. It's not about the writing, or the music, or the teaching... it's about me... seeking the kingdom of God. If I chase God, He will do the rest of the work. He will bring people into contact with this blog. He'll inspire the words. He will bring rest and respite.

That's my struggle today... to put everything else aside... and remember to press towards the kingdom of God.

Selah

Hush...

We live in a very busy world. Most people have the internet in the palm of their hand vis-à-vis their telephone. We are inundated and bombarded with noise and information from the time that we wake up in the morning until the moment that we go to sleep at night.

We have Christian radio available to us 24 hours a day. We can have praise music playing so much that it is reduced to nothing more than background noise. We have Christian television stations, many of these same ministries have radio programs and blogs that we can receive on our telephone.

It’s all inherently Christian, but is God in it?

I am not trying pass judgment. I am not discussing the motive of the people that present this “information.” I am talking about the state and the status of your heart.

This reminds me of Elijah. He had just experienced God in a massive way. He had just battled 450 false prophets on Mt. Caramel in 1 Kings 18. He has also prayed and a drought ended. He was in the middle of all this clamor about how God was doing great things… but Elijah was missing something. He was weary. In 1 Kings 19:4, Elijah says “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

Elijah was empty.

But in his emptiness something happened. God spoke.

11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Sometimes, we need to get away from it all to a place where we can hear God. We need to get to a place where we can get direction.

Sometimes, God isn’t in the music that we play, or the things that we listen to. Sometimes it’s in the whisper.
Take a moment to shut down the noise. Listen for God. He wants to speak to you.

Are we settling for what is?

I knew this guy that loved to be in nature. He felt like he could really experience God there. One day, he had hiked up a mountain and was looking at the way the leaves were changing colors, and the mist in the valley. He was admiring the way the clouds danced and the trees swayed to an unheard song.

He whispered the following prayer - "God, your creation is awesome!"

God replied - "This is my judgement and what a world riddled with sin looks like, my creation was perfect!"

Sometimes we settle for what is in our lives instead of reaching for what could be!

Counting the costs...

One of the things that frustrates me about the modern day church is that we teach a self help gospel. Many sermons tend to center around what we should do if we want God to bless us. I've heard dozens of sermons on  how to mange your finances, manage your relationships, manage this or manage that. We are taught that we are the managers.

If we are the managers, then what role does God play in our lives?

The Bible teaches stewardship. We are taking care of something that belongs to someone else. A lot of times, we get twisted and think that we are managing things that belong to us! Let's explore this in the Bible for a second.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?  Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you." Luke 14:28-29

Of course, in context, Jesus was talking about counting the costs of what it would cost to serve him and not conducting business. But... even when it comes to serving God, we don't have that under control either. God  Himself knows this which is why he promised to send us "The Comforter" - His Holy Spirit which resides in us to help us.

But... even if we were talking about building a house, Hebrews 3:4 says:

 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.

Let's spend a moment today and look at the things that we try to control and recognize where we might be wrestling against God who has a plan and a direction for our lives. When it all comes down to it, I would rather be in a shack that God put together for me than a mansion that I put together by myself. I know that's hard to believe... but you've never seen me use a hammer. I've seen the magnificence of the world that God put together.

Junk Food, Junk Living... it's all the same...

I have a co-worker that is here from India. She is strict vegetarian. When she’s in her own country, it’s very easy to eat healthy; however, when she’s here in the office she struggles understanding what is good for her and what is not.

At lunch time, she was in the break room looking at potato chips. Her line of thinking was – they are made from potatoes, so they must be good for you. What she didn’t understand was that the fat that the potato chips were fried in, and the added salt made this an unhealthy choice.

I told her that “nothing in there was good for you.” She took my advice, went downstairs and came back with a slice of banana bread that probably had 800-1000 calories!

Okay… so what does this have to do with Christianity Struggles? Everything!

“Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.” 1 Peter 2:11

We need to understand that we can’t do the same things that we see everyone else doing. It’s not good for them – nor will it be good for us. So whether it’s drinking in excess, casual sexual encounters, over-eating, lying.. the list goes on. We need to remember our “citizenship” and struggle not to give in to the culture that we live in.

The Dalton Gang

I received this in an e-mail from a friend. There was no source attributed to the source of the text, but I thought it was worth sharing.

The Dalton brothers were infamous outlaws during the late 1800s in the US. They started out on the right side of the law as officers. But then they followed a gradual descent into crime and became known for bank and train robberies. Their day of reckoning came when they tried to hold up two banks at once. Hearing of the robberies, the townspeople armed themselves and began to fire on the Dalton Gang. When the smoke cleared, Emmett Dalton was the sole survivor.

After serving 15 years in the penitentiary, Emmett was pardoned and set free. While in prison, he had come to see the error of his ways. So when he was released, he wanted to deter young people from a life of crime. Drawing from his own experience, Emmett wrote and starred in a film about the Dalton Gang in which he showed the folly of being an outlaw. In many ways, Emmett’s film was telling others: “Do not enter the path of the wicked” (Prov. 4:14).

In a similar way, when we have sinned but have genuinely repented and experienced God’s forgiveness, we can tell our own story. We can encourage others not to make the same mistakes we have made. James wrote, “He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death” (5:20).

If others learn from our mistakes,

And it saves them from the pain

That we ourselves experienced—

Then it wasn’t all in vain. —Sper

When we learn from our mistakes, we are less likely to repeat them