I like the way God designed time. We have new beginnings regularly. Every morning, we have the beginning of a new day. Every Sunday, we have the beginning of a new week. We are getting ready to celebrate another new beginning, the beginning of a new year. And new beginnings allow us to adjust our ways into greater harmony with God and the people around us.
If you abbreviate the numbers of the year that is before us, the beginning of this year is 1/1/11. That's got a real ring to it. And so may I encourage all my friends to take on four new life advancements, one for each number one in our new year. Take some time and think and pray about four adjustments you can make to your life that will enrich your life and the lives of others.
Now these advancements might be something you want to give up. I want to give up about 25 pounds this year. I want to believe that my desire is not vain but for simple reasons of health and strength. If your advancement is something to give up, tell as many people as you possibly can. Take out an add in the news paper if you can afford it and announce what you're giving up. This will add some accountability to what you want to accomplish.
There are "givin' up goals" and then there are "goin' up goals". Goin' up goals are things like reading a few more books this year, setting up a date night with your spouse, spending some quality time with your kids, learning a new skill or giving Jesus more time in devotion. For those kinds of advancements, the goin' up kind, pick out a few very close and trusted friends and invite them to ask you periodically through the year how you are doing with that goal.
May I suggest a "goin' up goal". Go to www.gatewaybible.com and sign up for a daily reading of the Bible. This simple system will allow you to read your Bible in one year. I am surprised by how many Christians have never read the Bible from cover to cover. It is a wonderful experience. Once you go to their website and sign up, Gateway Bible will send you free of charge an email with the reading of the day. You can select from a number of different approaches but typically, you will read from the Old Testament, the Psalms and the New Testament. If you are married, my wife and I have found it is a wonderful way to start the day together. The reading will take about 30 minutes and by December 31, 2011, you will have the blessing and satisfaction of having read your Bible from cover to cover.
I am praying God's great love to fall each and every day on your life as you seek to advance your life and the lives of others into a closer and closer relationship with the Author of life.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Sinking Deeper into God's Love
Some one has said that life is cyclical. We are either in a challenging season of life and in the midst of a dilemma, we are coming out of a challenging season or we are getting ready to go back into a challenging season in life. That sounds a bit fatalistic but it seems there is some truth in that basic life concept.
In this present life, there is no perfection. The world we live in is broken. And though heaven awaits those who have placed their faith in Jesus, God's Kingdom and Rule has not yet been fully established. Therefore, we will be regularly tested with dilemmas, crises and potential loss.
I have noticed that there are three issues in life that seem to gather my attention more than anything. I call them the "Big 3". Relationship breakdowns, financial stress and physical / emotional sickness. In my nearly 59 years of life, I have faced all three and every time I do, I find myself responding the same way. I am, at first, disoriented. I sometimes reel in pain. I then take some time to worry, fret and lose some sleep. Finally, I find myself deepening my life of prayer.
Most of us don't feel that confident in prayer. That may be why so many opt for worry over prayer. I am still, after 38 years as a Christian, a novice when it comes to prayer. But nothing teaches us more about prayer than to simply pray. And nothing, it seems, motivates us to pray than when we are facing a painful situation. I have read countless book on prayer and all of them have been helpful. But I have learned more about prayer by just praying. And when I am face to face with one of the "Big 3", my prayers are more intense, they are less wordy and religious and they seem to sink deeper into God's love.
I don't believe there is anything you can do to more effectively create an environment of peace, joy and contentment for yourself and those living around you than to diligently develop a life of prayer. As the great pastor James said, "the fervent effectual prayers of a righteous man avails much".
In this present life, there is no perfection. The world we live in is broken. And though heaven awaits those who have placed their faith in Jesus, God's Kingdom and Rule has not yet been fully established. Therefore, we will be regularly tested with dilemmas, crises and potential loss.
I have noticed that there are three issues in life that seem to gather my attention more than anything. I call them the "Big 3". Relationship breakdowns, financial stress and physical / emotional sickness. In my nearly 59 years of life, I have faced all three and every time I do, I find myself responding the same way. I am, at first, disoriented. I sometimes reel in pain. I then take some time to worry, fret and lose some sleep. Finally, I find myself deepening my life of prayer.
Most of us don't feel that confident in prayer. That may be why so many opt for worry over prayer. I am still, after 38 years as a Christian, a novice when it comes to prayer. But nothing teaches us more about prayer than to simply pray. And nothing, it seems, motivates us to pray than when we are facing a painful situation. I have read countless book on prayer and all of them have been helpful. But I have learned more about prayer by just praying. And when I am face to face with one of the "Big 3", my prayers are more intense, they are less wordy and religious and they seem to sink deeper into God's love.
I don't believe there is anything you can do to more effectively create an environment of peace, joy and contentment for yourself and those living around you than to diligently develop a life of prayer. As the great pastor James said, "the fervent effectual prayers of a righteous man avails much".
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Examination
Who am I?
Deep question right? Do you really know yourself? All of us have a public life. That's the part of life that not only we know but everyone around us sees and knows. We also have a private life. This is the part of our lives that few people know, only the ones we have allowed to enter into our confidence and trust. My wife, for instance, knows things about me that no one else knows. We also have secret lives, the part of our lives that only we know.
Since becoming a Christian, I have wanted to be authentic and transparent. What you see is what you get! My public life is not that much different than my private life. What people see when I'm down town or at church is pretty much the same as what you would see behind the closed doors of my home. I've wanted my secret life to be pretty small and becoming smaller as I grow in my trust of other believers who desire the best for my life. I think we all want a life free from hypocrisy. None of us want a huge gap between our public and private life and a long list of secrets we work to keep hidden. That's why it's so important to be in a Small Group and have people surrounding us that we can truly be accountable to, people we trust will love us no matter what and to tell us, not what we want to hear but what we need to hear. I think that is a major part of Christian community.
But there is another part of our life that really interests me. I would call it the inner life. It's that part of life that people don't see and is hidden even from us. It is the part of our life that only God knows, the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is that part of life that David spoke of in Psalms 139 when he asked the Lord to search him and see if there was any wicked ways in him and to lead him in the everlasting way.
Would you like to know more about your inner life? Let me give you a practical way of discovering a bit more of what makes you tick.
Carve out 30 days after the Christmas season and take 15 minutes at the end of each of those days and journal two things. First, jot down the part of your day that gave you the most fulfillment and created the most joy and offered you the most strength. Don't be too haste in what you write. Give the Holy Spirit time to review with you your day. This might be as significant as getting a salary increase or as small as receiving a word of affirmation from a friend.
Second, partner with the Holy Spirit in determining the place in your day that was the most disappointing, the most life draining, that brought you the greatest sense of grief, fear, anxiety or discouragement.
Then, before your finished, ask the question "Why"? Why did this event in my day create joy and why did this particular event create anxiety and fear. Give this little exercise 30 days and I believe you will see a pattern. And for the things that strengthen you, be thankful and aware of the Father's delight in filling your life with joy. And for the things that drain you, let God touch those areas of your life, allowing Him to bring His healing and love and to strengthen you in that area of life.
If anyone takes me up on this little exercise, I'd love to hear from you.
I pray that Jesus will fill your Christmas and lead you through the coming new year.
Deep question right? Do you really know yourself? All of us have a public life. That's the part of life that not only we know but everyone around us sees and knows. We also have a private life. This is the part of our lives that few people know, only the ones we have allowed to enter into our confidence and trust. My wife, for instance, knows things about me that no one else knows. We also have secret lives, the part of our lives that only we know.
Since becoming a Christian, I have wanted to be authentic and transparent. What you see is what you get! My public life is not that much different than my private life. What people see when I'm down town or at church is pretty much the same as what you would see behind the closed doors of my home. I've wanted my secret life to be pretty small and becoming smaller as I grow in my trust of other believers who desire the best for my life. I think we all want a life free from hypocrisy. None of us want a huge gap between our public and private life and a long list of secrets we work to keep hidden. That's why it's so important to be in a Small Group and have people surrounding us that we can truly be accountable to, people we trust will love us no matter what and to tell us, not what we want to hear but what we need to hear. I think that is a major part of Christian community.
But there is another part of our life that really interests me. I would call it the inner life. It's that part of life that people don't see and is hidden even from us. It is the part of our life that only God knows, the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is that part of life that David spoke of in Psalms 139 when he asked the Lord to search him and see if there was any wicked ways in him and to lead him in the everlasting way.
Would you like to know more about your inner life? Let me give you a practical way of discovering a bit more of what makes you tick.
Carve out 30 days after the Christmas season and take 15 minutes at the end of each of those days and journal two things. First, jot down the part of your day that gave you the most fulfillment and created the most joy and offered you the most strength. Don't be too haste in what you write. Give the Holy Spirit time to review with you your day. This might be as significant as getting a salary increase or as small as receiving a word of affirmation from a friend.
Second, partner with the Holy Spirit in determining the place in your day that was the most disappointing, the most life draining, that brought you the greatest sense of grief, fear, anxiety or discouragement.
Then, before your finished, ask the question "Why"? Why did this event in my day create joy and why did this particular event create anxiety and fear. Give this little exercise 30 days and I believe you will see a pattern. And for the things that strengthen you, be thankful and aware of the Father's delight in filling your life with joy. And for the things that drain you, let God touch those areas of your life, allowing Him to bring His healing and love and to strengthen you in that area of life.
If anyone takes me up on this little exercise, I'd love to hear from you.
I pray that Jesus will fill your Christmas and lead you through the coming new year.
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