[John 1:14]
Have you ever asked yourself why God choose to put on flesh and live in this world? Why did Jesus live here for thirty three years? Why didn’t He just come down here, be crucified, and resurrect? Why live thirty three years on earth?
I believe it’s because God has something to teach us about how we live on the earth.
The years between Christ’s birth and ascension have significance for believers. It’s the key for the tension we face on a daily basis. The tension between living on this earth while longing to be made whole in the life to come. This is why Christ’s thirty three years matter and how we are meant to live on the earth.
We were made to dwell.
Yes, we are called to share the Gospel, but more than a Gospel presentation, our lives are meant to be Gospel incarnation. The Word of God being lived out through our flesh. The way Christ treated people, dwelt amongst them, responded in confrontation, and lived each day with specific purpose is the perfect framework for a believer today.
Do you find yourself struggling as you try and figure out how to connect your daily life to your core belief in faith? It might be because you are struggling to dwell amongst people.
This is different than hanging with your crew. Different than staying up late watching Netflix with your spouse. Reread the Gospels and see how Christ interacted with those around Him. Your faith is not separate from your living. It’s not something you settle once then pick back up after you die.
Here are some examples on how to dwell:
[Jeremiah 21:12]
Simply put: be a person of justice, mercy, kindness, and humility. Live out your faith daily and dwell where God has uniquely placed you.
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I'm the friend who's always badgering you to do Whole30 for January, commit to doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University on Wednesdays, and of course read through the entire Bible in the year.
There's just something about a fresh start and the opportunity to learn and grow that gets me every time.
But the funny thing is there's nothing extra special about January 1st compared to the day before.
It's the mindset between those two days that changes everything though, and the opportunity it affords us to slow down enough to reflect on things that we want to do in the new year.
I was listening to this episode of Betterman Podcast with Barry Davis last week and stumbled across six characteristics to take into 2022 that they suggested, and they were too good not to share.
So without further ado, here are six characteristics to take into 2022:
1. Have a clear vision of a preferred future2. Welcome honesty of other believers in your life
3. Think about and talk about Jesus a lot
4. Do the right things to experience God
5. Encourage others
6. Have the discipline that is necessary to do the these things
There you have it, a sure way to make 2022 your best year yet. Full stop. Make these six characteristics your bullseye for this new year and you won't regret it.
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]]>This theme is the relationship or interaction between a child and Santa Claus. Watch almost any Christmas movie or go to any mall during that season and you’ll see this play out.
Take A Christmas Story, which is the best Christmas movie ever made, for example. Here’s what the main character Ralphie’s relationship with Santa consisted of. First, Ralphie wrote a list of all the things he wanted, and then second, he went to see Santa to tell him what he wanted. Not surprisingly, I don’t think Ralphie and Santa ever became very close.
I wonder how many of us have a similar relationship with God as kids have with Santa, where we approach the Lord as our cosmic Santa Claus, our divine servant, where the vast majority of our communication with Him is telling Him what we want from Him or what we want Him to do (I’ll be the first to admit that I often catch myself doing this).
It’s like a Freaky Friday situation where we have gotten our role mixed up with God’s and now treat Him as our servant instead of us being His. If you think this isn’t you or you’re not sure if it is, I recommend taking an honest audit of your prayers and mark down how much time you spend talking about your problems and the things you would like God to give you or do for you in comparison to the time you spend thanking, praising, and submitting to Him.
In his book The Crucified Life, A.W. Tozer notes,
“We often seek our own interests while pursuing spiritual interests under the guise of seeking God’s interests. Being self-serving is where the strange ingenuity of Christians begins. Under the guise and pretense of seeking God’s interests, we have a sly way of serving our own interests. We have become very clever in this endeavor. But we are only fooling ourselves into thinking we are ‘about the Father’s business’ when we are actually doing our own business.”
When we are really about our own business, God still remains important to us but only for the sake of something else. Instead of pursuing God for who He is, we pursue Him for what He has or what He is able to do for us. We end up trying to “use God” to get what we want.
Now there are two primary reasons that pursuing God primarily for what He can do for us instead of for who He is creates a lousy and insufficient relationship:
Just like marrying someone for their money, if our relationship with God is largely based on what He’s able to give us outside of Himself, it will be a shallow and unsatisfying relationship. Our love and devotion will only exist to the extent that we experience the sought after “perks.” In his song, False Teachers, Shai Linne put it this way, “if you come to God for money, then he’s not your god, money is.” This is also true of anything you find yourself desiring more than God himself, in which you begin to treat God as a means to an end and end up trying to “use Him” to get that relationship or that job or that feeling or whatever else you may be after. This approach will not only create a subpar relationship with the Lord but will most likely lead you to disappointment, doubt, and distance. Now this isn’t to say that you can’t or shouldn’t ask the Lord for anything, for He loves to give good gifts to His children (see Matthew 7:9-11); He delights in doing so. But that is a dangerous place to start, for then it becomes very difficult to develop an appetite for God himself. So just like everything else, our intentions behind us asking as well as our approach and view of God in the asking matter greatly. If either of these things are misaligned, you and your relationship with God will suffer.
See, God doesn’t just have what we need, He is what we need. In Exodus 3:14, God revealed Himself to Moses not as the One who has, but as the One who is. And as long as we keep coming to Him looking and hoping for Him to give us something other than Himself to satisfy our desires or quench our fears we will never actually have those desires satisfied or those fears quenched.
Let us take the desire for peace as an example (a noble and good thing to desire and pray for just to be clear), where I might pray something like, “Lord, give me peace,” as if it is something external from Himself which He has that He may give to me for me to then have (just like you would give someone a gift on Christmas). If this is our understanding, we not only misunderstand much of who God is but we miss out on the true way to gain this peace. Consider Ephesians 2:14.
“For he himself is our peace.” (Ephesians 2:14a ESV)
See, peace is not so much something we have from God but something we experience when we have God. At first this might sound like a small or insignificant distinction, but the truth behind it and effect of it is huge. God doesn’t just give us peace, He is our peace. God doesn’t just have the solution to your problem, He is the solution. He doesn’t just have something to satisfy you, He is what will satisfy you. So as long as you are praying for God to give you something other than Himself to satisfy your deepest longings or solve your biggest problems, you will never actually have those longings satisfied or those problems solved, even if you get the thing you are praying for.
If we are able to recognize that the only thing that will ever truly satisfy our longings is not something the Lord can give us or do for us but is the Lord himself, then we can allow that understanding to direct our time and prayers to not look for something from Him, but to look for Him. To be with Him. To get to know Him. The result of this approach will be a relationship abundant with love and joy in which you are satisfied and content because you have everything you need, because you have God.
So Christian, I want to challenge you today to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), to prioritize God’s will for you over your will for Him, to die to yourself and experience life in Christ. In doing so, I think you will find what you are really looking and hoping for, for in seeking Christ over what you want you will find that Christ is what you really wanted all along.
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A few years ago, I signed up for an ultramarathon. Sounds fun to say, not so fun to do. The truth is, I’m not a marathon runner. I don’t even like running. Running is hard, especially at 6-8 thousand feet of elevation.
Walking in the way of Jesus is also hard. No way around it. It doesn’t matter if you are on the mountain top or in the valley, it’s just plain difficult, and here’s why:
So yeah, it’s hard. More for some than others, but regardless, feel free to say to yourself, “This is hard.” There is hope though, and His name is Jesus. Scripture says that He knows exactly what it’s like to run the trails we run.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15)
Jesus knows exactly what it’s like to be a human being. He felt the heat of the day and the coldness of night. He knew fullness and what it was like to really starve. And He knew what it was like to go toe-to-toe with the deceiver and to suffer at the hand of those who are deceived.
But the thing that’s different for Jesus (outside of being God) is that He chose to jump on the trail with us. We had no choice. The gun fired when you were born and the race began. Jesus made the choice. He signed up for all the miles, hills, and valleys. Every challenge He took by choice.
Even when it got really hard, through blood drenched prayers, He stuck with it. If you give time to thinking about it, it’s wild. There was no quit in Jesus. He was fully committed to His next step on the journey to save the lost souls of Earth. Jesus was and is, to put it in modern terms, “A real one.” And praise God for that.
You wouldn’t say the same about His disciples. When men came to arrest Jesus, His disciples weren’t game for the next steps in Jesus’ journey. Well, not the step He was about to take. One of them, Peter, had other plans,
“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear…So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”
But friends, if you are a follower of Christ, how often have you had plans for how you are going to run this race, that didn’t line up with Jesus’ plans? You were planning to take that hill and He wanted to take you into the valley. He said go the narrow way, but you took wide, destructive ways. I have done both of these and so much more.
I have experienced hardships that I could not control like my dad being in prison for much of my childhood. Moving to 5 different schools in 6 years. The loss of two children to miscarriage. But I have also chosen to look at pornography and manipulate others. I have woken up from drunken nights and had to apologize. I have stolen and not paid back. I have cheated and tore down others in my way. I’m a sinner.
All this adds up to be a lot of baggage. Baggage has a direct impact on our ability to run the race God has for us. For instance, when I ran that ultra through the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming, I had no idea what I needed. So I did what any noob does, I packed every gel and water supplement known to man in one of those sleek little water vests that you see in the ultra-runner photos. As legit as I looked, it was foolish. It was 8lbs of resource that I didn’t need.
That doesn’t sound like much, but 8lbs across 32 miles and a big elevation change adds up. And so it is in our journey in the way of Jesus. We carry unnecessary baggage that we need to lay aside. Things that just happened, like (you fill in the blank). Or sins that you committed along the way that had minor to major impacts, like (you fill in the blank).
You know, it would have been nice if someone would have told me I didn’t need to carry all that weight at the beginning and that there were going to be incredible aid stations all along the way. I could say the same about my journey as a believer. For some reason, though I knew I was forgiven, I still carried so many burdens. It wasn’t until a few years ago that some amazing followers of Jesus showed me that I can be honest about the things that happened to me as well as those things that I hoped to take to the grave.
Friend, you too can find freedom to drop every weight that hinders. Confess your sin to God, He will forgive you. Then confess your sin to other believers. James 5:16 tells us to “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another and you will be healed.” There is so much freedom and healing that comes through radical authenticity.
If you are willing to do this, I’m so proud of you! But let me encourage you to take one more step on this hard trail of following Jesus. Be reconciled with those who have sinned against you and those you have sinned against. Reconcile is just a fancy word for “make it right.” This happens through confession and seeking or extending forgiveness. This is the ministry Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 that Jesus practiced with us and expects us to practice along the hard trails of life with one another.
As hard as it can be, it’s always easier than the way of the world. Jesus says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 28:11-30)
Despite my poor training, I finished that ultra race. After I crossed the finish line, I was greeted by food, friends, and some hearty slaps on the back.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it." The trail you are running with the Holy Spirit does have a finish line. And there really is food and a celebration. But the greatest prize of all is that your Savior is waiting for you.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-2)
So, run! And today, choose to drop the baggage that is getting in the way of you running and finishing well. Be reconciled with others, and point others to the One whose trail running lead to your reconciliation.
Until then, I’ll see you on the other side with a hearty slap on the back!
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]]>Do you remember the day that God revealed Himself to you and you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life? Do you remember the overwhelming sense of security and love that rushed over your body? Your whole self, unhidden…accepted?
Take a second and think back to it.
I remember when I received a revelation of Jesus and his grace when I was 21. I had just spent the week in the mountains doing whatever I wanted to completely living in the flesh…knowingly sinning and not obeying the Lord…and not caring. I remember on the way home feeling completely ashamed and disgusted with myself. I had been a believer for five years, I was going into “the ministry”, I had led friends to the Lord, I had a daily quiet time, and I went to church services…yet here I was - ashamed and alone.
Except, I wasn’t alone. It was in that moment that I felt the Holy Spirit in a way that I had never felt the Holy Spirit before. I felt the Lord say in my spirit, “I’ve never loved you more than I do right now.” I remember arguing with God, “Right now?! I haven’t done anything for you worth loving. I’ve been sinning all week! How can you love me?”
It was at that moment that I realized that I could never earn God’s love. It was something I had to freely receive. Romans 8:5 became alive to me, “but God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
I cried while riding in the car for ten minutes. I still get tears in my eyes when I think about it.
God, myself, and nothing else.
That’s really what God is after…us.
Sure, we can do a lot of things for Jesus and in His name; but what He desires the most is us.
As years go by, a believer can be tempted to trade in “being with God” for “doing for God”. It’s very easy to get sucked into this trap, especially if you serve at your local church or are involved in some area of ministry. And this isn’t something that is new. We see the same thing happen in John’s revelation in the Book of Revelation. Jesus has the same charge against the church of Ephesus:
I think we all strive for the words Jesus has to say in verse three. Who wouldn’t want to persevere, endure hardships, and not grow weary? Those are all markers that we would say are good qualities. We search for Bible plans on these topics and save motivational quotes around these things because we want to persevere, endure, and not grow weary.
But Jesus turns the table with the next verse. Basically He says, “You’ve done all the stuff…but I hold this one thing against you.” If someone holds something against you it shows the priority and weight of that thing. Jesus is saying, “This thing that I hold against you is far more important than persevering, more than enduring, more than not growing weary.”
So what is more important than doing a lot of stuff for God? Being with God…our first love.
When we are with God, a couple of things happen:
2 Corinthians 5:21 says:
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
When we accept Jesus we BECOME the righteousness of God. Meaning that when God sees us, He doesn’t see us for our past, present, or future doings…He sees Jesus. So the word’s God speaks to Jesus in Matthew 3:17 is true to us as well:
“And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
You are God’s son or daughter…in whom He is well pleased. This has nothing to do with what you’ve done but what Christ has done for you. This is your identity.
It is inevitable that if you trade being with God for doing for God you will burn out in faith at some point. We see it throughout history but specifically we see it a ton today. This is not just something that celebrity pastors face…this is something that every believer on the planet could fall to if we do a lot but don’t spend time with God in rest.
Rest is not checking out physically and mentally. When we rest we are choosing to deny our desires to find our self worth in our doing. We are declaring that God is in control of the world while we are resting. It helps us see that the world will continue to spin without us feeling like we have to do something. When we understand this truth we can fully rest in the Lord. We can delight in His creation. We can contemplate the majesty and wonder of God.
The most important thing you can take away from this is that God desperately desires for you to be with Him more than do for Him. Being with God will lead to doing for God…but it is never a substitute.
Consider how you have replaced what is most important. Are you too busy? Do you find time with God to not be “productive”? Are you knowingly sinning and don’t want to face it? Are you afraid what God will reveal to you if you are alone with Him?
Repent
Repent to God. You will feel the fullness of His love and grace. Talk to a close friend and repent to them as well. Let them know that you have replaced your being with God with your doing for God and need them to help you in accountability moving forward.
Return
God is still as close as He has always been. Return to your first love. You don’t have to make up for lost time. Just start again today. Say, ”God, I know you’re here” and allow the Holy Spirit to comfort you and fill you with His strength and rest.
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]]>I grew up in a small town of roughly 10,000 people and in that small town, high school sports were a big focus. Friday nights in the fall revolved around high school football games, winter nights were spent at the basketball court, and spring afternoons were spent at the track or the soccer field. As an athlete in this small town, we were expected to be enrolled in a course called zero hour, which was a weightlifting course that took place at 0600 sharp, every morning before school started. This doesn’t really seem like a big deal nowadays, but as a 15 year old, getting up and moving that early was a chore and there were few days, if any, when I really looked forward to that early wake up call. Did I mention that before I had my drivers license, I drove a moped to the gym in 10° weather? That didn’t help either.
I start with this story because sometimes the spiritual aspects of my life can feel the same way - like a chore. Whether it’s doing my daily reading, reviewing my Scripture memory packs, or even praying, there are days when it just doesn’t come easy. As I’ve wrestled with this feeling and sometimes felt like maybe I was doing something wrong, I’ve been led to a few portions of Scripture that address this challenge.
1 Timothy 4:7 says:
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness…”
Pay attention to the verbiage that Paul uses here. The fact that Paul uses the word “train” here implies that in order to live a life that could be defined by godliness, some effort would be necessary.
Paul is making this point because Timothy is living in the midst of a godless community, people who are devoting themselves to irreverent, silly myths and Paul is warning and spurring Timothy on to be disciplined in the midst of an undisciplined community.
While preparing to write this devotional and getting all my thoughts in order, I didn’t come across any Scripture that promised growing in godliness would be easy.
God wants our hearts and He wants us to pursue Him intentionally through diligent, disciplined practice every single day, even when it’s hard or feels inconvenient. While there isn’t a promise in Scripture that growing in godliness would be easy, there is Proverbs 13:4...
“The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”
Do you crave to grow in godliness? As I have wrestled with being disciplined in my own pursuit of the Lord, I have been admonished and encouraged in this way and I pass it along here - don’t let your cravings be empty. If you desire to know God deeper, to love His Word more, to be equipped with Scripture, or to grow in prayer - pursue it. Build it into your day and be diligent enough to practice it every day.
Prayer is a huge gap in my spiritual life so for me it has looked like building out prayer cards for people and using those as a catalyst for prayer.
All those 10° mornings as a 15 year old ended up being worth it in the end. Four years of getting up early culminated in a state championship victory. Now, by no means do I find any worth in a high school state championship, but it’s a very tangible example of diligence paying off in the future, even when it seems unfeasible in the present.
The bracelet we've sold here at Humbled Daily since the beginning has Hebrews 12:11 on it for this very reason. Live with the future, and eternity, in mind.
For me, I think about the day when I’ll be a dad. I don’t want to give my kids just any advice, I want to give them advice that is backed by Scripture and consistent with the Word of God and the diligence with which I devote myself to the Scriptures and prayer now, will have great implications for how well I can be the dad that I want to be. Whatever it is for you, my encouragement is to be diligent. Your soul will thank you for it and will be richly supplied.
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Here he unpacks some timeless truths about what the Bible teaches about anxiety, where the church has missed the mark, and the roadmap we should walk down when we are feeling anxious.
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A little over a year ago, me and three other friends got to sit down in a restaurant with a pastoral leader. By leader, I mean one of the best leaders I’ll ever share a meal with. Once we all had our fried food and drinks of choice, he got the ball rolling--“So what do you want to ask?”
To be honest I’m not good in these moments. Maybe the greasy food was clogging the gears or I just draw blanks when I’m with people whose opinions matter to me. Romans 7:24, right?
Fortunately, someone spoke up. “What do you like to read?” His answer is what I want to focus on for the next few hundred words. He said, “I read a lot of theology, but I spend time reading business and politics as well. A lot of the people that I spend time with and serve are businessmen. So I like to read in that genre to be aware of what they are talking about and going through.”
Think about that. He takes time to read information about a field that he doesn’t work in. I don’t know about you, but time is precious, and reading takes a lot of it. If I’m going to read something, I’d rather read about things that interest me: like the Bible, Harry Potter, fitness, the Premier League…not business.
But he had a reason and that reason was people. This leader took time out of his busy day to understand the livelihood of the people who lived in his area. Why does this matter?
This matters because I am a sinner, but I am a sinner forgiven and transformed by God’s gift of grace and mercy through Jesus, because other people brought the gospel to me in my language. They took time to understand me and my interests so that I could really understand the Gospel. Some call this evangelism.
But not everyone agrees with evangelism. Our culture views it as coercion or imperialism. In some circles it results in insults, in others the loss of life. Looking at the lives of many Christians, you would think they too disagree with contextualized sharing of the good news.
But what we see in the in the New Testament through men like Paul, is not coercion and imperialism, but persuasion and cultural immersion—revealing the good news in ways that make sense through understanding their culture while at the same time showcasing the way of Christ by personally living the way of Christ with them.
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. (1 Corinthians 9:19)
This verse is a three-part thesis statement for the verses that will follow. First Paul says he is free. How so? A broader reading of the letter and other letters by Paul show us three ways he and the Church are free:
• Paul is not enslaved to anyone's opinion. He lives in the approval of Jesus.
• Paul is not bound by any culture. He lives in the way of Jesus.
• Paul is not bound by sin. He lives free because of the forgiveness of Jesus.
Spend time thinking through those freedoms for like 10 seconds and what comes next should be intuitive and natural.
Second, Paul chooses to make himself a servant to all people. How so? Look at verses 20-22a.
That may turn you off. Maybe you think, “Just be YOU, Paul.” “What a fake.” “Paul is just a poser.” It’s like, “Show some spine Paul!”
But Paul isn’t adapting to the culture like the new kid from the city who switched from Jordan’s to boots because he just moved to the country middle school. Remember, Paul isn’t bound to the court of public opinion. He is living in the approval of Christ. The reason he adapts his message to fit the context is because third, he wants to win all. Check it out:
I don’t know about you, but I really like CrossFit. There’s something about the sound of a heavy barbell hitting the floor and normal folks cheering each other on that makes me happy. But, I don’t like it so much that I’d make it my full-time thing.
This past CrossFit Games I watched men and women who have, and boy are they incredible. What they can do is phenomenal. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. But, only one gets to stand on the podium at the end. This year it was a young man named Justin Medeiros.
Prior to the Games Justin did an interview where he said, “I’m not going to the games to compete, I’m going to the games to win.” That stuck with me.
Paul isn’t adapting the gospel to make for understandable sermons. Paul is adjusting major parts of his life, giving up everyday freedoms, so that people who are created in the image of God can hear the good news of what Jesus accomplished once and for all on the cross. Paul isn’t trying to compete, he’s serving to win.
He says, “I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1 Corinthians 9:23).
Paul wants everyone, regardless of language, skin color, gender, race, socio-economic background, or neighborhood to have what he has. For Paul, and for EVERY Christian, there is only one prize in the work of Christ and it’s the introduction of the gospel to all people. Is this your goal?
For this goal to be your goal, you must first understand the blessing yourself. Ask yourself, is the Gospel good to me? Is it freedom? Is it peace? Is it unshakeable? Is it the best thing I’ve ever experienced? Is it worth selling yourself into slavery for? Is it worth dying for? Do you love it? No one can answer those questions but you.
Let’s assume that your answer to all those questions is yes, yes, and yes. Then, we have a goal that is worth curbing our freedom for. Something worth getting up early and going to bed late for. Something that conforms all other things in our lives to its image. Something that reflects the very motivation of Jesus.
Remember, Jesus is God. But Jesus didn’t come down and speak in a heavenly language. Instead, he spoke in human language. He didn’t eat heavenly bread; he ate fish caught by his disciples. Jesus became one of us. Did he have to do it? No!! He freely chose to do so. Why? Because we are limited in our understanding, and He loves us. Because Jesus chose to become one of us, we who believe have the freedom to make the same choice that He and Paul, and those who shared the gospel with us made.
So here’s what you can and should:
• Study the people in your context. What do they do? How do they think? What do they eat? What do they need? What are they missing? What are their stories?
• Then, take the truth, and answer those questions in a way that makes sense to them.
One final point: what makes our message so powerful is not how it is similar to the culture around us, but how it is different. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind so that in everything you may know what is good, acceptable, and perfect.
As Alexander MaClaren says, “Make yourself as like them as you honestly can; restrict yourself of allowable acts, in deference to even narrow prejudices; but let the motive of your assimilating yourself to others be clearly their highest good, that you may ‘gain’ them, not for yourself, but for your Master.”
As we go from here to seek and save the lost, let these words from the writer of Hebrews be your strength:
I want to start this off by asking you a couple of questions about God. Now if you’re anything like me, it’s easy to hear or read a questions and think, “that’s a good question,” but never actually answer it. But I don’t ask these rhetorically and I think it would benefit both of us to actually consider our answers.
Maybe you’ve seen God’s goodness in things like financial provision, the beauty of creation, miraculous healings you’ve witnessed, relationships you enjoy, the cross of Christ, or many other things.
Or maybe you have trouble seeing and experiencing God’s goodness. Maybe you’re like me and often times your experience doesn’t line up with your theology. You read in the Bible that God is good but when you look up from the pages into the world and your life, you don’t see it so clearly.
You have this idea in your mind of what would happen if God was truly good… and then it doesn’t. And the result is that you’re left frustrated, confused, and lacking in faith (although we keep up a good appearance and never really admit this to anyone, right?). If this is you, I get it. If this isn’t you, just wait.
However, this leads me to another question (rhetorical this time) that is getting at the heart of my message today. What if, when it’s so difficult to see and believe God’s goodness, it’s not God who is lacking in goodness, but us who are looking for it in the wrong places or expecting Him to manifest it in misguided ways?
See, by looking in the wrong places or inventing our own expectations of how God should demonstrate His goodness to us, we’re not only preparing ourselves for probable disappointment but we’re also missing out on many ways his goodness is actually waiting for us, ready to be experienced and understood. And I don’t want you to experience that frustration or miss out on that joy.
That’s why I want to introduce you to or remind you of another, less thought of, manifestation of God’s goodness that is specifically talked about in scripture as a primary source of goodness and always available for us to enjoy. There is a gold mine of goodness stored up in this place that for some is a place unexpected, for a few a place forgotten, and for others a placed unventured because of misperceptions surrounding it.
So what is this place that is rich in God’s goodness and joy? His law. Or His commands, instruction, rules, precepts, etc. This comes directly from Psalm 25:8
“Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he instructs sinners in the way.”
We are told here that one of the ways we can see God’s goodness is in the rules He gives for us to obey. God doesn’t just instruct us because we are bad, but because He is good.
Initially this was somewhat difficult for me to understand. Probably because when I think of rules to obey and instruction to follow I think of the chores I had to do growing up and the things my parents told me I could or couldn’t do that seemed to be without purpose (except possibly to just keep me from doing what I wanted to do and from having fun).
None of these rules were that bad but I wouldn’t describe them as fun or joyful or life giving. My response to my parents telling me to wash the dishes or be home by a certain time was never, “Wonderful! Thank you! You are so good.” And yet, this is the response of the writers of the Bible to God giving them instruction. A great example of this can be found in Psalm 119 where God’s instruction is described as delightful, wonderful, praise worthy, containing reason to rejoice, and much more. All of this leads to the essence of what I’m trying to get at, which is this:
Much of God’s goodness is placed in and embodied by His instruction to us, and His intention and desire is for us to experience considerable joy in our obedience to that instruction.
The source, the substance, and the result of His instruction are all good. It is not without purpose and it is not without effect. Our obedience to God is not meant to be unpleasant or done out of drudgery, for His instruction is not a burden placed upon us.
Instead, our obedience is meant to be done joyfully, for God’s instruction is a blessing given to us. Therefore, when I use the term “joyful obedience,” I don’t just mean that we are to obey joyfully, as if joy is our duty in obedience and we are to generate within ourselves a pleasant feeling about it in order to do it with a good attitude so that we can please God (although this may be true).
What I’m really meaning is that joy is our reward in obedience; that obedience is full of joy, it is joy-full.
Now don’t hear me wrong. In all this talk of obedience I’m not saying that you’re salvation is based on your obedience or that if you obey God he will somehow be obligated to give you anything. Only a belief in Christ will save you and there is nothing you could do to make God love you more and no amount of neglect to His instruction will make him love you less. I am simply speaking of the nature of obedience according to the essence of God’s instruction.
Obedience is no longer our covenant but it is still our calling, given to us by way of invitation, not coercion. Through obedience to God, you have nothing to earn but so much to gain. God’s instruction to you, as revealed in scripture, is a treasure chest of his goodness and your obedience to that instruction is the means for you to experience it.
My hope in writing this is for a few reasons. First, as a plea for you to not give up on looking for and beholding God’s goodness. It’s always there and always abundant even though it may seem hidden or disguised at times. If you’re having trouble seeing the goodness of God in your present season, try looking here, in His instruction, which is always available. It reveals the heart of God and leads us in ways everlasting.
Or if you’re feeling burnt out in attempts at obedience that feel joyless or just really hard, I want to encourage you to keep going and not lose heart, for in due time you will reap if you do not grow weary (Galatians 6:9).
And secondly, in order to encourage you to seek this place and find much joy. Whether you’ve never prioritized obedience to God because of a misperception of where life is found or it just hasn’t seemed like that big of a deal to you, or any other reason, there is an opportunity in front of you to know and enjoy God more deeply.
What I’m not trying to do is lead you to a mindset of legalism where either your faith is dependent on your obedience, you are attempting to earn God’s love, or where you begin to feel spiritually entitled to His blessings, for Christ took all of that away. We now obey God, not to get something from Him but for our own good and out of love for Him (see 1 John 5:3).
A perfect record of obedience is not the end goal, intimacy is. Therefore, what truly matters here is not so much how well you perform God’s commands but your heart behind your obedience and the genuineness of your pursuit. His instruction is not a burden we are chained to but a privilege we are blessed with. It is a mine field of His goodness, and our obedience to that instruction is truly joy-full.
So to end this, let us consider the view of the Psalmist concerning God’s instruction:
I have been trying for a few months now to write a devotional based around waiting on the Lord. Anyone who knows me knows that this is something I am consistently being sharpened in. My natural inkling is towards progress and my heart has a bias towards action and I’ve believed the lie that waiting on the Lord is neither action nor progress.
In my uncertainty surrounding many situations in my life the consistent counsel that I get from scripture, family, and friends is to wait on the Lord, believe He is good, and that He has got my back.
After a particularly rough week, my wife and I were sitting on the couch discussing what was on our hearts at the time. I brought up my difficulty with seeing where my path is taking me and how I am really fighting to learn what it looks like to truly wait on the Lord.
Some time passed and I reached under our coffee table and picked up a devotional that’s been in our home for many years and served us mightily in busy seasons of life, Mornings and Evenings by Charles Spurgeon. I opened the devotional immediately to a page that had been heavily underlined, read over, and well loved. The passage of scripture on the page was Psalm 27:14: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
I believe that this excerpt from Spurgeon will be more helpful than anything I could have possibly written on the topic.
I want to call your attention to the four postures of waiting outlined by Spurgeon:
God is good and He has your back. Waiting is a part of the masterful work He is doing in your life. Anchor into these truths today friends and find the peace that can only be found in Christ. We love you and are here for you.
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This has been eating away at me for years and has created a very negative mental space. I wake up some mornings and the first thing that goes through my mind is how worthless I am. “You piece of junk, you’re going to under perform again just like you always do.”
Day after day after day this can become incredibly draining.
In contrast, the growth mindset focuses on taking each situation, whether a “success” or a “failure”, and learning from them. What this does is removes the possibility for “failure” in your mind, because if you approach every situation with this mindset then no matter the outcome, you have improved yourself and learned something that will point you in the right direction.
I’m just dumping my thoughts here, but I think a majority of people struggle with these same issues and the performance mindset bleeds into every facet of life. Your professional life, your love life, your spiritual life, your relationships with friends, and on and on. Everything becomes about one-upping the other person to make yourself feel like you are surpassing your imaginary bar.
Am I saying that it is bad to have goals you are striving for? No, definitely not. I would not have made it to where I am in my life now if I wasn’t dedicated and put in the work to achieve my goals. What I am saying is we can’t create bars that are unreachable. Wow, you’re really selling yourself short there buddy. Na, I just think psychologically setting attainable goals and reaching those goals spurs you forward to accomplish some pretty great things.
I’m also not saying that you should loathe and hangout in your comfort zone all the time to avoid feeling like you have failed. Failure is inevitable, and if you aren’t failing then you are doing something wrong.
One of my favorite quotes that was the background on my phone for sometime is, “Failure isn’t fatal, but the fear of failure is.” We must put ourselves in situations that stretch our abilities and make us feel uncomfortable. I am not trying to say avoid failure. I am just saying we need to re-calibrate our minds on how to react when failure does occur. Use it as a learning opportunity. An opportunity to not fail in that area again. Instead of having failure define your self worth, how about we make failure our greatest weapon.
This performance mindset has also bled into my spiritual life. I feel like I have to perform for God in order for Him to bless me or love me. There is nothing you can do that will make God love you more or less than he already does.
In our small group this month we have been studying Galatians where Paul really digs into grace through faith and not works. When we strive to please God through works we must strive for perfection, which is unachievable because in order to fulfill this we would have to follow every law to a T.
The Message version is able to paint this picture more eloquently than I am. Galatians 3:11-14 reads:
“The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in scripture: “The one who does these things [rule keeping] continues to live by them.” Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his spirit, in and with us by believing-- just the way Abraham received it.”
What if we moved away from a performance/work based life and faith and embraced the truth that Jesus dissolved the curse on the cross? It is so much easier said than done, and something that will take time to truly believe, but let’s work on this together, friends.
I’ll leave you with the first verse of Jireh by Elevation Worship and Maverick City. It says:
Despite my efforts to guard my heart and captivate my thoughts, I still many times find myself comparing my life to those around me and wondering if at times I am missing out.
Maybe it is just me, but it seems like in our culture it is only getting more and more difficult to find contentment. We have a front row seat to so many individuals' lives. We see how they live, what they drive, how many hours a week they work, and even how they spend their free time. Anything and everything is broadcast across YouTube and Instagram for us to absorb. It seems at times like an impossible barrage relentlessly beating down the door of our hearts.
Most recently I found myself discontent with where God has me right now in this season. I consistently find myself asking God, “Is this where I am supposed to be?” as if God messed up and what my life needs is my own human intervention (more on this to come).
When I am really struggling to identify the source of a feeling in my life I always go to two things: my journal and prayer. Word by word I began to chip away at the outer shell of the discontentment that I have been wrestling with. At the center of it all was the enemy’s not-so-secret weapon. The lie that has been told since The Garden… the lie of “I know better than God, and He should write my story my way.”
Man… is this not the battle cry of our culture right now? You can’t go a single day without hearing things like:
Follow YOUR heart!
Stop focusing on others, you need to focus on YOU!
Live YOUR truth!
At the center of our flesh we all desperately desire to be the lord of our own lives. When I examine my own life I am no different. Apart from Christ I am an attention seeking, envy driven, prideful individual. Much of my discontentment comes when my focus is on how far I still desire to go, rather than how far God has brought me. It is centered on a belief that God should be taking me constantly onward and upward by the trajectory of my own standards.
Recently, during one of my episodes of discontentment, I was looking through some posts that I had saved on Instagram and came across an old post from Loui Giglio. It said:
Young leaders, the goal isn’t getting the microphone. What’s important is having something to say. Not just mimicking those around you, but telling the world what Jesus has done for you, what you have built and how, what storms you have weathered and the truth that has sustained you, what pain you’ve endured and the way God is bringing you through.
Message > Mic.
Getting the mic is easy. Having something to say is a process. Make the process your goal.
Drop the mic Loui…
It is so easy these days to believe that we are equipped when truly we are just mimicking information that we have heard time and time again. We are at an increased danger of this given the massive amount of information and knowledge that is at our fingertips in 2021. But friends… don’t mistake knowledge for wisdom. Wisdom is the product of knowledge rightly applied. Knowledge is rightly applied when we walk the path God has set before us specifically tailored to the curriculum of who Christ is calling us to become.
Our job is not to cut corners or build platforms. Our job is faithfulness. It is to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts… even when the path that He has us on makes absolutely no sense (Proverbs 3:5-6).
To believe that we shouldn’t be where we currently are is to believe that God got it wrong. For many of us, this idea is the exact source of our discontentment. We focus all of our efforts on our future instead of being fully present to learn the lessons that God is teaching us in each season.
We don’t abide in the process that God is taking us through. In theory it sounds good, but the application we find too difficult. The great irony of it all… the best way to be most prepared for the future is to be diligent and faithful in the present.
So friends I encourage you… read Proverbs 25:6-7 and 1 Peter 5:6-7. We are not to call ourselves up on our own timeline. God is the one who lifts up and He does it in His own timing. As our friend Todd Wagner puts it, if we try to do God’s job of exalting ourselves, God will do our job of humbling us (1 Peter 5:6).
Seek faithfulness where you are called. Invest more in being a person worth following than an individual with a following. Your steadfastness in each season is building in you a character. Don’t seek to let your competence outrun your character. Invest in who you are becoming. Trust in God’s process. Drop the mic and let God write a message.
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I’ve spent a good portion of the last year or so feeling that way. Beginning my career as a young professional, I was thrust into this office space, surrounded by people who at a minimum, have 5 years more experience than I do, and as I sit across the table from these people and hear their experiences and their knowledge, I just can’t help but feel like I’m a little out of place.
I imagine that this is probably how Mephibosheth felt in 2 Samuel 9 when he was invited by King David to eat at the King’s table not once, but always.
In my imagination I see Mephibosheth walking into the dining room taking deep breaths with butterflies fluttering in his stomach and as he sits down to eat the sound of his fork clinking of off his plate from his shaking hand echoes throughout the room. We even see in Mephibosheth’s response to David in 2 Samuel 9:8 that this gesture from David was so hard for him to believe:
“What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”
Mephibosheth couldn’t comprehend what could have possibly inspired David to make this gesture. The real beauty in this story is found in Mephibosheth’s own acknowledgement that he had absolutely no business being at the King’s table.
It was common practice in this day that an incoming king would kill any and every relative of the former king to squelch any threat to his newfound throne. Mephibosheth knew this, and being the former King Saul’s nephew, this is the consequence that he expected.
But, expecting a sword he found a seat, a seat at the most prestigious table in the land. Why? Because David made a promise to Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, that he would take care of Jonathan’s family as long as he lived. In 1 Samuel 20, we read:
“… do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever…”
Jonathan asked David to make this promise and we’re told that David swore to uphold this promise just a few verses later in 1 Samuel 20:17. David’s faithfulness alone to this promise was the reason that Mephibosheth had a seat at the table - nothing that Mephibosheth did earned him this spot.
As I read this story lately, it hit me in a much more tender place than it ever had before. Like David keeping his promise to Jonathan, we have a God who has kept and continues to keep promises throughout every generation. The Bible is a legacy of God’s faithfulness, of His promise keeping.
He made a promise to Abraham, that He would make him a great nation and that through him the whole entire world would be blessed.
He made a promise to David himself that a King would rise from the tribe of Judah that the scepter would never depart from, one that would reign forever.
He made a promise to Mary and Joseph that the son that Mary bore would “save His people from their sins”. Through these accounts and many more, the conclusion that is a bright, flashing, neon sign is: What God says, God does.
So friends, I hope to encourage you today with another promise found in Romans 10:9:
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Salvation has been handed to us on a silver platter because Jesus took on the most painful beatings and the most painful death. The promise has been made, and the promise will be kept – you can be sure of that.
Just as the promise keeping attributes of David led to Mephibosheth sitting at the King’s table, there is a chair at the King of King’s table with your name written on it.
Taking the seat takes humility. We see this even with Mephibosheth when he asks “what is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” Mephibosheth knew he wasn’t worthy, but it’s not humble to refuse a gift like this, it’s prideful. So instead of sulking in his unworthiness, he trusted the one who called him worthy and took the seat.
We are but dead dogs (Isa 64:6, Ps 14:3, Eph 2:1) but the One who gets the final word has called us worthy (2 Cor 5:21). Take the seat, my friends. Dwell in His presence, marvel at His mercy, and drown in the riches of His love. We serve an incredible God and He has said, “welcome to the table”.
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]]>You have probably heard it at every wedding you have been to, and your mom most likely has it hanging somewhere in the house in that fancy script font. It is of course 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - arguably the most famous passage on love in the entire Bible.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
It is such a familiar verse that gets thrown around and has seemingly lost its weight. We hear it growing up, preached on the weekends, and stamped on wedding cards, but I can not shake the thought that we have grown numb to it.
I was reading through this passage recently and was overcome by resentment. Like the crying and yelling at God combination that only happens on those impossible days.
You see, the last sentence stung when I read it. Love never fails. That statement felt so disingenuous and oblivious to all the love I have seen fall apart around me. And I know with certainty that you have either witnessed or experienced firsthand a time when “love” has failed.
When that parent abandoned their child.
When the wayward child turned their back on you.
When that closest friend broke their promise.
We have all seen “love” fall short in this life.
And like me, I am sure you desperately want the kind of love that never fails.
But then it hit me. My agonizing resentment quickly turned into a gracious revelation.
The answer to the love that never fails is found in the preceding verses.
So here is your roadmap to never lose sight of:
A love that never fails…
Is patient.
Is kind.
Does not envy.
Does not boast.
Is not proud.
Is not rude.
Is not self-seeking.
Is not easily angered.
Keeps no record of wrongs.
Does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
A love that strives to do each of these things each and every day, and repents and asks for forgiveness when it falls shorts, will never fail. We must never forget that God designed love and knows the context in which it thrives, and He has so graciously laid out this roadmap for us to imitate.
This passage shows us undoubtedly that genuine, biblical love is not something you fall into, but something you live out. It is not happenstance, it is a choice. It requires deliberate action each and every day. It is costly. It makes many sacrifices. It looks to the good of the other person. It demands much of you. It will change your life though and most certainly the lives of those around you, you need only to look to the cross of Jesus Christ.
This love described here in 1 Corinthians, the love referred to as “the most excellent way” by Paul earlier in the chapter, is the love Christ has for us. He is our ultimate example, hope, and source.
I feel like I would be doing you a disservice if I did not draw attention to the way this passage begins and ends. It is no coincidence that this passage is bookended with patience and perseverance. It is almost comical really. The act of love, the selfless and unconditional commitment for the ultimate good of others, is sandwiched between two virtues that demand steadfastness and capacity to play the long game. So do not be surprised when it gets difficult and laborious living out this genuine love, it is to be expected. Rather, practice patience and perseverance as you live out this most excellent way.
May we be a people that loves in such a Christlike way each and every day, all for His glory. Do so, and you will be a deep blessing and bright light to the world around you.
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]]>I don’t know about you, but that’s where I keep finding myself lately.
I feel perpetually stuck in a season I don’t want to be in, and constantly longing to simply arrive at the harvest of that season.
Scripture has graciously reminded me of this truth though: God’s timing is often slower than we’d like, but far better than we could ever imagine.
It’s a sad, but obvious fact - we all think we can do God’s job better than He can. The reality though, is if we knew what God knows, we’d do exactly what He is doing and ask for exactly what He has given us. Isn’t that equally insane as it is relieving?
God’s timing is always good and always perfect. We see this all throughout scripture. Here are just a few:
Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.”
AKA: your life is right on schedule. Good things require God’s timing. Psalm 145:15 provides further encouragement: “You give them their food at the proper time.”
That means there is a good time and a bad time, a right moment and a wrong moment. Even more, James 5:7-8 tells us:
“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”
Patience and steadfastness are hard lessons to learn. That means there will be times in your life, in this lifelong journey of sanctification, when all you want to do is quit. There will be exhausted nights when it takes everything not to give in. There will be seemingly hopeless mornings when you doubt God’s good and perfect timing. But stand firm! Be formed into the person God has called you to be – characterized by a steady and unhurried patience and steadfastness. Jess Connolly puts it so powerfully: “You can’t practice perseverance until you want to quit.”
Here’s something else that has helped me keep an eternal mindset: stop living life through seconds and start living life through seasons. Sometimes that means you need to simply acknowledge that you’re in a season of sowing seeds. There isn’t a harvest in the spring, but there’s a diligence anchored in a hope for the harvest - a time to work hard and foster faithfulness.
Let’s make it practical: Maybe you find yourself in a season of longing for a spouse. That’s the harvest - that’s a season down the road. But this season, this current season God has you, is a time to become the spouse your future spouse is going to be looking for. Kill your bad habits, learn to love and serve selflessly by being an incredible friend, be a student of the Word, learn to cook, work with your hands, pay off your debt – do the hard things now that will make you an incredible, godly spouse down the road.
We tell you all this because your current season has a distinct purpose. Don’t waste your waiting! Here are a few ways to wait well in an undesired season:
1. Fight Today’s Battles so You’re Prepared for Tomorrow’s
You can’t get to the grand and noble desires that you want God to bring to fruition until you faithfully walk through the undesirable seasons of discipline and sanctification.
For example:
You might say, “God, put me in a leadership role at work so I can serve and lead people well.”
To which God might respond, “Now is an incredible time for you selflessly serve the people I have in your life at this moment.”
Or maybe, “God, bless me with a spouse I can love in a way that honors you.”
And God might respond, “This is an ideal time for you to take care of your pornography and lust problem.”
Proverbs 24:27 serves us well here: “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.”
Do the things first that are most necessary. In doing so, you’ll be building a strong foundation for future capacity. Jesus tells us, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:10).
2. Pray
So simple, yet so powerful. Specifically, ask God to reveal what He is teaching you in this season, humble yourself before Him and confess your doubts, and thank Him for His sovereignty and goodness (Psalm 145:17).
3. Continue to Do Good Now
Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Lean into your current season as a time to foster godly conduct, build holy characteristics and be sanctified in Christ. If you rush the process, you forfeit the harvest.
Sharable Quotes:
]]>The obvious fact is this: there is no shortage of people telling you how to vote this election. From political campaigns to sport organizations to your closest friends and even down to yourself, each of our lives are steeped in an opinion-driven and selfish culture.
But Proverbs 3:7 reminds us to “not be wise in our own eyes.” We must let God’s Word inform our voting. We must pray for God to lead us in the right direction. We must set aside our opinions and the opinions of others.
We find an incredibly reassuring verse for our nation on God’s role in all of this in Daniel 2:20-21:
God is in control. Let the magnitude of that truth sink into your anxious soul.
Here are five ways to let God’s Word inform your voting:
1. Pray
We saw above what God’s role is, but we find our role in 1 Timothy 2:1-4:
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
God controls and we pray for our leaders. We love how our friends at The Porch say it: “You’ll never be burdened for what you’re not praying for.”
Are we a people that prays for our leaders (and opponents) more than we post about them?
Specifically, here's how to pray for our government leaders:
- Salvation and understanding of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4)
- Wisdom and knowledge (Daniel 2:21)
- For God to remove/set up His appointed leaders (Daniel 2:21)
- Unity among leadership (Proverbs 21:1)
2. Stand for what the Bible stands for
Throughout the entire Bible we get a front row seat of God's heart, attributes and values. We see what He loves and what He hates. We see what leads to life and what leads to death. As you fill out your ballot, ask yourself what the Bible has to say about each specific issue and policy.
"Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 12:28)
3. Vote
We must VOTE. We see in Jeremiah 29:7 that God commands the Israelites to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
To not vote is to disregard the charge to “seek the welfare of the city”. We ARE exiles (1 Peter 2:11) placed on this planet to be a messengers of Christ and to answer this charge. Being that we are exiles here on Earth, we must vote from the standpoint that above all else we are citizens of Heaven, which means our first allegiance is to God.
Ideally we would always be able to vote for the person who is most surrendered to God, but no person is perfect (Romans 3:23). We are all fallen people living in a broken world - so when faced with two imperfect candidates, choose the candidate who is most aligned with God’s Word and values.
4. Honor those in authority
You can already feel yourself warring against this one, can't you? Paul tells us in Romans 13:1-2:
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.”
Regardless of who wins, let’s take God at His word and trust that He will be glorified in our honoring of those in authority.
5. Let your light and life point others to the one true King
It’s no secret, your life and your actions speak far louder than your political opinion ever could. Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:16 are such an encouragement:
“...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
I think we can all see and predict the outcome of this election in some capacity. Regardless of who wins the election, there will be extreme amounts of unhappiness, plenty of debate over the accuracy of the results, and ongoing activity in the streets. As citizens of Heaven, we cannot allow ourselves to fall into the trap of joining in on the negativity and thus suppressing the light of Christ. We must be voices of hope and peace in the midst of what we know will be a very tumultuous season (Romans 12:18). We must avoid useless and unconstructive arguments and debates, but we must educate ourselves on Biblical principles and stand firm on truth so that God may bring repentance to the people of this nation (2 Tim 2: 23-26).
It is so good to know that we don’t have to fearfully look to our politicians for hope. Our hope is found in the redeeming work of Christ and Christ alone. God is sovereign over all, and every king, nation, and tribe will one day bend their knee before Him. Our hope is not in the winner of an election, but in the saving grace and eternal reign of Jesus Christ.
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]]>A couple weeks ago at church, a new perspective on this popular Psalm was presented and it really opened my eyes to some things that I wanted to share with you.
I will be focusing on Psalm 23 verse 4:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Notice how the verse says the valley of the shadow of death. So, what is a shadow? According to the dictionary, a shadow is a dark area or shape produced by an object that comes between rays of light and a surface. In my experience, a shadow is a not a true representation of the size of the object that is being projected. Do you remember making hand puppets on the wall with a flashlight as a child? The projection of your hand on the wall was huge compared to the actual size of your hand. So where am I going with this?
What if I told you that many times the way we perceive the problems in our lives, are merely a shadow representation of a much smaller issue. I know this is true in my life. I am great at taking little problems or stressors and turning them into much bigger issues that bleed into and negatively affect other areas of my life. After a while, all I see is the shadow, and it is daunting, and I forget what miniscule thing sparked the anxiety and fear in the first place.
Also, a shadow is not tangible, but is cast by something that is. We face only the shadow of death because Jesus conquered death on the cross and took our place. We have nothing to fear for death has been defeated and through Jesus, we can overcome any valley in our life. Plug any worry or struggle into the verse above:
The valley of the shadow of depression.
The valley of the shadow of anxiety.
The valley of the shadow of insecurity.
The valley of the shadow of addiction.
Christ’s death on the cross has conquered all those struggles and when you trust in Him as your savior; all that remains is the shadow, an intangible, deceitful representation of the issue.
Shadows are also not harmful. Charles Spurgeon paints the picture well with this quote, “Nobody is afraid of a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop a man’s pathway even for a moment. The shadow of a dog cannot bite; the shadow of a sword cannot kill; the shadow of death cannot destroy us.”
I find his first example interesting as it ties directly with the first part of the verse, "Even though I walk..." Walk is an active verb. You must cognitively decide to walk. It is not just going to happen by chance or accident. The verse does not say, “even though I sit and wait for God to carry me through the valley…” We must choose to walk through our valleys, realizing that the shadows of our struggles and fears have no hold on us and trust that God will be right beside us, guiding and comforting us through to the other side.
I hope this is helpful for you. This perspective really opened my eyes to how many shadows I fear in my life, and how strong of a hold they have on my mood and how I treat my wife and the people around me. It helped me pinpoint certain aspects of my life that I often snowball into bigger worries for no reason and helped me see that I don’t need to fear or become anxious about these things because Christ is in control and has already won.
Please shoot us an email or DM to let us know if we can be praying for you in any way. Much love.
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]]>I’m a petroleum engineer, so in a nutshell, I have to make sure that oil and gas is being produced from our wells at the expected rates. That being said, I’ve been struggling a lot lately with the fact that when I die, no one is going to care about how much oil and gas my wells produced.
Deep down, I want to do something that will have value beyond my years. I want to do something that will impact lives and propel people to new heights. Now, I realize that all this is exposing a lot of selfishness and pride in my life - that I want to do something that I’ll be remembered for - but I’m simply being transparent.
Now, couple this current discontentment with the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has absolutely wreaked havoc on the oil and gas industry, along with many others. Anyone who either works in the industry or knows someone who works in the industry, knows that when oil prices slump, companies start to lay off employees. This has quickly become a very stark reality for me and my wife, Hannah, that my job security is in the balance. Needless to say, it’s been difficult to be content in this season and not wish that God would simply place Hannah and I in a more stable situation.
It’s funny how God can connect the dots between our lives and His divine Word. A couple months ago I thought I was just reading 1 Samuel for the sake of reading 1 Samuel. I wanted to read and I wanted to understand it at a deeper level than I had in the past so I decided to go ahead and move through the book not knowing how much it would speak to me during this current season.
In 1 Samuel 16, we first read about how God moves through Samuel to anoint David as king over Israel. But the thing is, David doesn’t become king of Israel at that moment. In fact, in 2 Samuel 5:4 we’re told that David was 30 years old when he finally began to reign as king of Israel. Many scholars and historians believe that this was anywhere between 15 to 22 years after he was anointed by God, through Samuel. I can only speculate that at times, those 15 to 22 years felt quite exhausting as David patiently waited for God’s promise to be fulfilled.
Continuing throughout the course of 1 Samuel there are two specific instances that really stood out to me and convicted me. These instances can be found in 1 Samuel 24 and 26. In both of these instances, David has a very opportunity to kill the current king of Israel, Saul. Funny enough, during these passages, Saul is actually in the process of pursuing to kill David, due to some intense jealousy. Even with these circumstances and even with some EASY opportunities to kill Saul and claim the throne that God has set aside for him, David refused to take advantage of these situations despite encouragement from his men and even his nephew. Take a look at his reasoning in both chapter 24 and 26:
It’s unbelievably clear from these responses that David understood who God is and while his men, his friends, and even his family were pushing him to go and get what was rightfully his, he was humble, he was patient, and he was faithful to the God who had made him a promise.
I also can’t help but believe that David had, at least at this point in his life, a keen understanding of what the Apostle Paul would later write in Philippians 4:11:
“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”
Contentment is something that is learned, my friends. Fight for it. I believe that a right understanding of God and His never ending faithfulness, through all of the ages, will lead to contentment. I believe that it will foster inside of us a realization that earthly circumstances are simply vanity and that we can find contentment in the fact that we will soon be in paradise, with our King. At Humbled Daily, the verse that we’ve clung to since the very day we started is 1 Peter 5:6:
“Humble yourself, therefore, under God’s mighty hand and He will exalt you in due time.”
David was simply humble. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God had promised him the throne. It would have been so easy, at least from my perspective, for David to kill Saul and justify the deed by taking God’s anointing out of context. But David understood that it was God’s responsibility to be God and that in due time the promise would be fulfilled.
Pertaining to 1 Peter 5:6, I’ve heard a take on that verse that really resonated with me. They talked about how the “due time” mentioned in this verse may not even be a time on this earth in some of our lives. That the “exalting” that takes place, would be the moment that this life full of earthly desires fades and we get to go home. This take was hard to stomach at first, but I really love it now. I’d encourage you to ask yourself the question - if the only exaltation I receive is my arrival in Heaven, will that be enough? Although it’s not always easy amidst my fleshly desires, I’m beginning to believe that it will be enough. If you’re already there, praise God. If not, I pray that being lifted up to Heaven would be the only exaltation you ever really need.
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]]>MY plan had not worked out the way I wanted it to, and I was angry at God for allowing this to happen to me. I felt like I was living the Christian life and that I should be rewarded for that. I wasn’t partying, drinking, getting high, or sleeping around. Shouldn’t I have been rewarded for my good behavior? I remember thinking to myself, “God, why did you let so and so in when they don’t even trust in you and definitely aren’t living for you?” “What did I do wrong to deserve this failure?” The questions I should have been asking myself were, “Why was I so destroyed by this failure, and what was my heart behind living in a way I thought was pleasing to God?”
During this dark season of mine, God revealed a book to me by Tim Keller called The Prodigal God that completely shifted my outlook on how I was living my “Christian” life. Most people are familiar with The Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke chapter 15. From my experience, when people hear this story they focus on the younger brother who takes an early inheritance, separates himself from the family, loses it all, and then returns to his father awaiting him with open arms. I do not fault anyone for focusing on that part of the story because it is a pristine picture of how Christ is awaiting with open arms for all of us sinners to return home to him. Here's how the Bible paints this picture of the reuniting of the younger son and the father:
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. [Luke 15:18-24]
You can see why this is such a popular passage and why so much emphasis is put on the younger son. It feels good to know that I can be a sinner and sin and know that Christ has forgiven me and is waiting with open arms. In this story, the younger brother represents tax collectors and sinners. People that were far from Christ and did not proclaim to be Christ followers or Christians. So, what about the people that claimed to be Christians and were following Christ on their own terms with their own motives? That’s where the older brother comes into the picture, and this is where my perspective on my life was changed. Let’s dive into Luke 15 verses 25-30 and meet the older brother:
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
What the heck, Dad?! I stayed here and worked for you and this is how you repay me?! You reward your son who left, partied away his inheritance, and you welcome him home with open arms and kill the fattened calf to celebrate his return? Has everything I have done for you meant nothing?!
In this section of the parable, the older son represents the Pharisees. Both groups would have been listening to the parables, but the Pharisees were probably the primary intended audience of this parable. The older brother protests that the welcome extended to the returning younger brother is not fair. He even refuses to acknowledge him as his brother by calling him “this son of yours”. The picture of the interaction between the father and the older brother offers a sharp contrast between, on one hand, the mercy and grace extended by the father, representing God the Father, and, on the other hand, the self-righteous resentment of the older brother, representing the Pharisees.
The older brother’s mindset was, “I never disobeyed, yet you never gave…” Ouch, that hit me hard when the story of the older brother was dissected for me. “I never disobeyed, yet you didn’t get me into medical school.”
“I never disobeyed, yet you still haven’t provided me with a spouse.”
“I never disobeyed, yet I just got fired from my dream job.”
Plug whatever you want into the blank, the list could go on and on.
The older brother stayed home to serve his father for his own personal gain, not out of a servant heart. Like I said before, I truly thought I was living for Christ. Making the right decisions, trying not to be influenced by worldly temptations, but what was my motive? I was doing it to be rewarded by God for my good behavior. To receive what I wanted to receive. The root of it all was selfishness. I was not doing it to bring glory to God or spread His love. I was doing it to get my way, and when I didn’t get my way, my life fell apart.
I was the older brother and selfishness and self-righteousness are always a sin, even if it makes you look like you are following Christ.
But wait, let’s look at the father’s response to the older son’s outburst. Here are verses 31 and 32 to finish off the parable:
And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’
This is an affectionate appeal by the father, showing that he still loved the older son and wanted him to join the celebration. This is also the perfect picture of Christ. Jesus is still inviting the Pharisees to repent and accept the good news, and He loves them no less than the tax collectors and the sinners.
Every person can identify with one of the characters in this story. Are you a non-believer that recognizes you are living a life of sin and are far from Christ, ready to repent and accept the forgiveness that was achieved through His death on the cross? Guess what, He’s running towards you with open arms ready to embrace you.
Have you been a believer for the majority of your life, but have never really experienced a true relationship with Christ? Does your faith feel lukewarm? What are your motives for making the decisions you are making? Are you serving Christ for your own personal gain or are you serving Him to serve and love on others?
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have this figured out. I still struggle with characteristics that the older brother portrayed in this story, but now I can recognize when these traits are taking over and point my intentions and motives away from myself and back towards Christ and others.
Are you the younger brother or the older brother? That is for you to meditate on, but I want to leave you with this: which ever one you are, the result is the same. Christ loves you and is running towards you with open arms, waiting for you to return home, or waiting for you to realize you have been home the whole time.
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]]>
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]]>Listen to the 4 Truths on iTUNES
It is to no ones surprise that we are currently living in volatile times. From the race riots, to the global pandemic, to the contradicting information that seems to be oozing out of the cracks of culture left and right. You turn on the TV and you see riots in the streets of every major city, you turn the channel and with each successive click you see breaking news after breaking news. Half of your friends believe that COVID-19 was a complete set up orchestrated by the government while the other half are scared for their lives and haven’t stepped out into the public light without a mask in months.
You get on Instagram and find that the scandals continue piling up and every single person that you graduated high school with is now an expert in culture, virology, and politics overnight. There is seemingly no where to run to get a moment of clarity, to clear your thoughts, to be present.
We are living in a moment that, whether you like it or not, will define an era. And your actions during this moment can be either circumstantial reaction, or a calculated response.
My encouragement to you is this: in times of chaos, anchor into truth. Know what is true and measure your life, your actions, and your thoughts accordingly. An experienced sailor does not set sail to the open seas with disregard for the stars. They locate their true north and bring their actions and thoughts under the banner of what is objectively true. This is the only way that they will reach their desired destination.
So in light of what has been transpiring in our country, we at Humbled Daily don’t seek to give you an opinion to follow, but rather anchors for your path to guide your steps as you see this world through the lens of biblical truth.
Truth #1:
Truth & Wisdom are seldom in the populous.
Many of us are familiar with John 15:18 where Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” The creator of truth was hated by culture, so why are you surprised that the media and the populous operate the way that they do? Charles Spurgeon famously said, “Truth is usually in the minority in this evil world.” As Christians we must walk through this life knowing that we must take what culture says and gives us and constantly measure it back to what we know to be true. This is the danger of being biblically illiterate as a nation. We have lost sight of what is objectively true and latched onto the idea that if something shows up enough times in our lives it must therefore be accurate, and this my friends is dangerous. We must hold fast to what we know to be true and sail our ship in that direction constantly checking the happenings before us and measuring them back to the start that points us to true north.
Truth #2:
Wisdom & Prudence are patient and timely, not flippant.
Proverbs 14:33 says, “Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man of understanding, but it makes itself know in in the presence of fools.” Proverbs 12:23 says, “A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.” As believers we must first know what is true, and then with that truth we are to patiently and lovingly present it in the midst of foolish banter. Are you a shining light in the circles that you run in that patiently presents truth that will steer the lives of your brothers and sisters? Or are you flippant and harsh and treating your words more like a sword than a method of healing? (See Proverbs 12:18)
Truth #3:
True confidence and boldness only come when you are standing on truth.
Many of us have been silent during these times. Some of us because we are being calculated and examining truth, others because we simply don’t know what to do or say. Hear me friends… I have been at both camps during this time. However, I am finding that in my pursuit of a deeper knowledge and understanding of what is true in this life my confidence and my boldness are increasing. Not because I feel intellectually superior, or that my words simply must be heard, but rather quite the opposite. I now know that what I am sharing is not rooted in opinion or popular culture where the next “big idea” could easily sweep my words under the rug and render me irrelevant. No, because truth is timeless and God built his word on nothing but what He knows to true about the fabric of the beings that He created. And when you are standing in right relationship with God, knowing His truth and holding fast to His word, you are living life in the pursuit of righteousness.
Proverbs 28:1 tells us that, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Do you find yourself fleeing, or standing bold in what you know to be true? Anchor in truth and you will find that it brings a boldness that opinion never could.
Truth #4:
Kindness, love, empathetic teaching, patience with evil, and gentleness are all marks of God’s servant. Not beating people over the head with out of context scripture that you haven’t actually read or understood.
Let me be frank here. The least Christ-like individuals that I have seen during these times have been individuals that claim Christ as their Lord. Belittling individuals because of their choice to wear a mask, spewing hate towards anyone that may challenge their opinion, and writing everyone that doesn’t follow their commands off as sheep. Ironic isn’t it… sheep? I think God called us all that in scripture a few times… but that is neither here nor there.
As I scroll past daily lashings from “Christians” and yes, I meant to put that in quotes, that hold more weight in their political belief and agenda than scripture I am constantly reminded of 2 Timothy 2:24-25. Which reads:
The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.
As believers we are called to seek kindness and in that kindness pursue the act of teaching truth in a way that is both patient and gentle. THAT is the mark of the Lord’s servant. Unfortunately, many have taken our high opinion of ourselves and chosen to beat people over the head with out of context scripture that has sat collecting dust in our households for the last 5 years. Charles Spurgeon says it this way, “No man is more unjust in his treatment of others than those who have a high opinion of self.”
Friends, your conservative values do not make you a Christian. The liberality at which you love and tolerate does not make you a Christian either. A steadfast belief and confession of Lordship to the atoning blood of Jesus Christ on the cross makes you a Christian. And that belief will bear fruit and that fruit comes in the form of your actions. Galatians 5:22-23 gives those fruits a name… they are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Christian… these fruits should be exposed in your life during times of turmoil and trouble. Let it be true that you didn’t belittle those that disagree with you, but rather patiently steered them towards truth with both kindness and gentleness.
Truth is of utmost value in our culture today as we continue to change with the times. Choose to anchor your life, your opinion, and your council in a truth that never moved amidst a culture that has never stopped. Cast out the noise, open the book, and seek truth my friend. You will be a beacon of hope and a light in your circle because of the light that is alive in you.
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]]>She is incredibly fit, but more importantly she is a beacon of hope and a faithful servant of Christ. Her joy is contagious and we are so encouraged by the light that she shines.
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]]>Listen To 'The Path to Passion' On iTunes
Have you ever hit a point in your life where you began to question where you currently are and where you are headed? For me that happens more often than I would like to admit. I am inquisitive by nature and that doesn’t change in my relationship with God. I often spend time wondering where He is taking me and sometimes that leads to me questioning His path for my life. Ever been there?
In one of my most recent editions of Quinn Questions His Future I began to seek out advice pertaining to my career path. I read through the book of Proverbs every month and a consistent theme mentioned 16 times throughout the 31 chapters is that wisdom comes from guidance and counsel. So I decided to heed that advice and I began to pursue counsel about my situation.
In my pursuit there was one piece of advice that stuck out far above the rest, mentioned by nearly every individual that I spoke with. It was this, “Follow your passion.” The more I heard it the more I began to truly think about the meaning behind that advice. Was this wisdom or was it merely a result of our copy-and-paste mentality from today’s top music artists, celebrities, and cultural powerhouses?
This advice is quite likely the most frequently imparted advice of our current generation. In his book Welcome to Adulting (highly suggested by Humbled Daily if you have not read) Jonathan “JP” Pokluda dives into the phrase “Follow Your Passion”:
You might think that’s always been advice given to young people starting out in the world, but that’s not actually the case. In fact, when looking at trends of word usage in literature, the phrase “follow your passion” was virtually nonexistent in books before 1980. By 1990, though, it was showing up 1.5 million times. In the 2000s, the phrase skyrocketed; by 2008 it was being used over 21 million times in English literature. This isn’t because of the rise of the internet; we’re talking about print books here.
This advice is being given as blanketed advice to nearly all generations, and most frequently to the most malleable generation… the youth. This advice is not only being given more often, it is also being followed nearly as religious doctrine.
But if following our passions is the missing key to happiness why are suicide rates among the highest they have ever been? Why still do 85% of the working population resent their jobs or choose to be unengaged at work? Why do we have substantially more options with much more dissatisfaction?
We have made passions our god and in our pursuit of said god we’ve found it to fall short of the joy and splendor that the world so willfully overpromises and under delivers.
Whether you are 100% on board with the advice or not, I believe we can all agree that we would hope not everyone on the earth would heed the advice and follow their passions.
First of all, it would destroy the economy as we all pursued our Instagram model and YouTuber careers (Fun fact: American children are 3x more likely to want to be a YouTuber than an astronaut as of 2019.) Not only that, I certainly hope terrorists don’t follow theirs, or that my future daughter's middle school boyfriend doesn’t follow his. Maybe those are a bit extreme, so let me bring it closer to home…I bet you hope your husband/wife doesn’t follow their lustful passions when they see another beautiful woman/man.
If we are honest most of our passions are not passions at all. They are just the options in life that allow us to reap the most reward with the least amount of effort. Rewards being more than just monetary, but attention, influence, and status. Most of our “passions” involve being our own boss so that no one can tell us what to do and being free from responsibility. It is not that we are inherently passionate about quitting our job to travel the world, but rather we like what comes with it. The inherent freedom from responsibility, the experiences we gained that others don’t have. We desire the feeling of being impressive to others and doing something that others can’t do. It is ingrained in us.
You see, the problem with “follow your passion” is simple… it is really bad advice. Especially for the Christian. It is advice that is the result of multiple generations that chose to pursue feelings over wisdom. JP goes on in his book to say:
“Following your passion is pretty much the opposite of what God’s word teaches. We’re not supposed to follow our passions; we’re supposed to bring our passions under control (Gal 5:24). Instead of following our hearts (Jer. 17:9), we’re called to follow God and become passionate about what He’s passionate about.”
So how do we become passionate about what God is passionate about? I am going to try and make the case here that true passion is a by-product…not a primary pursuit. By in large our country has made the pursuit of passion our ultimate. If you are not in the millennial generation you are likely tempted to point fingers here, but whether you like it or not your generation is taking the bait too and has proven just as discontent and transient in recent years. Despite the hate, the millennial motive has proved to disciple generations outside of itself.
So if passion is a by-product… what is it a by-product of? Purpose.
But I would also make the case that purpose is a by-product. Of what? Mission.
If this were true, the path to passion would look something like this.
Mission - Purpose - Passion
You see, if we just dive into passion it is ever-fleeting and we find ourselves jumping from passion to passion only to end up feeling hollow and empty with no purpose in our lives. If we jump straight to purpose we may for a short while find a little flame of passion, but we will run consistently into the question of “Why am I doing this?”
Now here is where this gets encouraging. If you are running radically after Christ and proclaim Him as Lord of your life… you will not live a day of your life outside of mission.
Lets look at Paul who was in many aspects the unbreakable man, writing some of his most known work on being content in all circumstances (Phil. 4). Which is useful because when many of us talk about passion, we are really aiming for contentment. This is the man that when his life was threatened said, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21) and when they kept him alive and threw him in prison, he converted the jailer at his cell (Acts 16:25-40).
Paul’s contentment and accomplishments would make it easy to assume that he must have been passionate about doing the Lord’s work. But was it Paul’s passion that anchored him in that contentment? No, it was the mission and relationship with Christ that fueled his contentment and produced a healthy zeal as a biproduct. We see in nearly all of Paul’s writings that he is operating on a very clear and stable mission that aligns with the words spoken by Jesus in the Great Commission. In Paul’s own words in Colossians 1:25-29 he says:
I have become its servant [the church] by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
No matter where Paul found his feet he operated in this mission knowing that it was his highest calling. Spread the gospel, make disciples, preach the word, and contend for the faith. It was never contingent on his situation, his occupation, or his location. He lived on mission and wherever he was that mission from Christ gave him purpose and an overflow of that purpose produced the passionate apostle that wrote most of our new testament.
So I ask you friends… have you been putting your desire for passion in place of the mission?
Because if you claim Christ as your savior and Lord of your life, you won’t go a day without mission. Where there are people the harvest is ripe, but if you’ve placed passion as your primary litmus test you will continue to miss the mission field God has so intentionally placed you in as your vision is clouded by the unending pursuit of passion.
What if you saw your workplace as a mission field and not as a burden?
You know that town you feel stuck in? What if you are there for a purpose?
What if each and every day from here on out you operated as if the Creator of the heavens and the earth reached down and gave you instructions for a specific mission? Here is the punchline… He did.
Souls are at stake and people are the prize. You don’t need to leave the country or go on the World Race to be on mission. (In fact you shouldn’t do either of those things if you aren’t living on mission where Christ has strategically placed you.) Where you are now there are broken and hurting people in desperate need of the hope that you have. And unfortunately, many Christians have abandoned their mission in the pursuit of passion not knowing that where they were planted was the path to the passions God had in store for them.
I challenge you to find anything that will make you more passionate and zealous for life than the transformation of a soul through a relationship with Christ. Go out and make disciples my friends. Preach the word, share the gospel, shine a light where He has you. Christ designed us for mission and when we live in His design, we live in His freedom. Your mission is clear. Walk in your mission and trust that purpose and passion will follow.
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Micah is a husband, a father, and a Christian recording artist.
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