Process, Not Product

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature
and in favor with God and man.
~ Luke 2:52 ~

Inspired from Luke 2:52, I have thought about some new ideas to implement in gaining wisdom, stature, and favor...How can I best gain knowledge and abilities this year and use what God gave me for His Glory? Hoping to avoid a "self-help" entry, I have provided, not an exhaustive list by any means, but a few tips and tactics for getting to that next level for 2012...Four focus areas:

1. Focus on the process instead of the product
Too many times, all we think about is having a bigger bank account, or a better physique, without thinking about what needs to be done, or how it needs to be accomplished. Determine your end product, but focus on how to obtain it...working on the process in chunk's of time and effort...and then be persistent: Losers quit when they're tired. Winners quit when they've won. -Unknown

2.Implement the MIKE Tactic
Mike Singletary, famous linebacker for the Baylor and Chicago Bears, was always known for intensity...his eyes showed it and his play backed it up...so as you establish new goals this year, get intense about them and establish the MIKE Tactic:

M- Motivated = You must be motivated for change
I - Inspire/Influence = find someone who inspires you and think of someone you can influence
K - Knowledge = If you want to change, you must arm yourself with the knowledge of what to do and how to do it (see below).
E - Evaluate = a key step to see if you are on pace with your goals

3. Multiply and Subtract
We need to multiply certain areas that direct us to transform, and we need to subtract things that are holding us back. There is a quote that reads, "In 5 years you will be the sum total of the books you’ve read and the people you’ve associated with." Let's condense that down to one year...by January 2013, you could be the result of what you allowed to enter your mind by what your read and who you ran with...our readings and our associations have a profound effect on who we become. It is why Psalm 119:93 says “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life,” and why Proverbs 4:23 states, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." So we must focus on the input if we desire a certain output. Here are some tips:

• Do you want to know what you believe and why? Then read On Guard by William Lane Craig, and then form a study group and watch the DVD Companion to it...you read and discuss, read and discuss, constantly shaping your mind and your transformation.

• Do you want to gain muscle and lose fat? Then subscribe to fitness magazines/blogs, and form a fitness group. Read books and associate with people who are like-minded to get strong and healthy. (If you can't find a workout partner, then I highly recommend DVD programs, I know it sounds crazy, but for real, get Insanity or P90X2...they will at least motivate you because you see other people getting fit, and it lays out the program in a plug-n-play method.

• Do you want to establish better finances? Then read books and hang out with people who have become rich through smart investments and a savings plan.

4. Who Do You Play For?
A favorite quote comes from the movie, Miracle, the true story of Herb Brooks (Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad. It is a simple quote used by the coach, and it goes like this:

"Who do you play for?"

This one quote totally shifted the players mentality from selfishness to self-giving! One reason they were able to beat the Russians is because they realized they played for their country, their family, their team. Listen, if you want to transform in 2012, then ask yourself, "Who do I play for?"

Are you a parent? Do you want your kids to know Christ? Then study The Scriptures, serve on Mission Trips, be a leader in your Church and your community. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”- Proverbs 22:6

Do you want your kids to get into Harvard or Stanford? Then don't just tell them to study and work hard, let them see you reading intellectual books and making new discoveries.

Do you want your organization or your team to improve? Then don't tell others to work or play hard...you work hard, you play hard and they will echo your efforts.

When people see you learning and growing Spiritually, Intellectually, Physically, Financially, etc, then they will follow as well. So not only will you be achieving your goals, you will be helping others achieve their goals.

So for 2012, don't just expect success, train for it...think process...think influence...and you might find the product is better than you expected!

Koukl: "100% God - 100% Man"

In the last post, I mentioned how Wintery Knight discussed the importance of an accurate understanding of Christianity...I want to follow that post with the following link to an article written by Greg Koukl, another great thinker...

It's called "100% God - 100% Man," and to summarize, Koukl states:

"There's is not a sharp dichotomy between God working and our working.
They go hand in hand. God works through our initiative."

...how God uses our wills and our actions to accomplish His ends..."

• • •

"Pray toward Heaven. Row toward shore." ~ Lee Ezell

Unfolding Patterns Of God's Plans

Good thought I heard from Wayne Grudem the other day...he was talking about the way that God unfolds His purposes and reveals His Glory gradually over time, for instance:

Creation Of The World - Whether you hold a "Day-Age" view or a "Literal" view, etc, God gradually created and sculpted the world over time.

The Calling Of The Jews - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Twelve tribes...

The Sending Of The Messiah - centuries passed before Jesus was incarnated.

Spreading Of The Gospel - gradually over centuries, we are seeing God's Purposes unfolding.

The more I think about it, the more all of life is like this. There is a development process to all things that have life, meaning, value, and purpose. The only things that are really made in an instance are material and expendable.

So this gradual revealing of God's purpose certainly has personal application to us as well. He wants our lives to have meaning, value, and purpose, and the only way to do that is through a gradual development via a daily relationship with Christ.

In fact, Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon delivered on the Sabbath Morning, January 7th, 1855, stated the following: "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity."

I think that God unfolds His purposes gradually, so that we can "continually investigate" His greatness...Allow me to draw a parallel from the outstanding Christian philosopher and theologian of the eleventh century, Saint Anselm, who coined the phrase, fides quaerens intellectum...translated to mean, “faith seeking understanding”...Perhaps God has so arranged life that our faith seeks an understanding, and then our understanding leads to a revealing...then purpose...

Faith --> Understanding --> Revealing --> Purpose

For Anselm, "faith seeking understanding" was “an active love of God seeking a deeper knowledge of God.” He believed that true faith is a love for God and a drive to act as God wills...Ultimately, our purpose is to become Christ-like...Jesus was everything God is, and He was everything that we were meant to be...so what happened was that sin entered the world, we became separated from God, and our image became distorted...man has been on a search for purpose ever since...a search for God through Christ...a desire beyond all desires in which C.S. Lewis beautifully summarized in the following quote:

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

...God, through His gradual unfolding of meaning, value, and purpose, wants us to first have a "deeper knowledge" of Him...and a deeper understanding of Him...a desire to become Sanctified and Christ-like...so that when God unfolds our meaning, value, and purpose in life, we see Him as the architect, the composer, and the designer of it all.

Free Will Or Determined?

When it comes to decision making, are you a believer in free-will or determinism? Do you think our choices matter or is our fate already set in stone?

Why am I asking this question? The reason is because we live in a world of irony. We all want God to tell us what to do, but if we lived in this kind of reality, we would all be complaining to God that we never get to choose. So what gives? Take a look at how the Book of Proverbs sheds insight to this subject:

Proverbs 16.1 says, "We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer."
Proverbs 16.9 says, "A person may plan his own journey, but the LORD directs his steps."

This creates an intellectual dilemma for the human mind. To our thinking, it must be one way or the other, or at least a 50/50 partnership with God...a type of supply and demand relationship, "God I demand this, so you supply it." But Timothy Keller in Your Plans:God's Plans, comments on how The Proverbs teach us that we actually have 100% free will with 100% of the results being under God's Sovereign outcomes.

Despite the intellectual perplexity of such a situation, it actually makes perfect sense. And the reason is that God, in order to know His Will, wants us to know Him...not the other way around. Therefore, He grants us the freedom and the gift of choice, but at the same time, governs the results. Our wisdom to choose is built on The Foundation of our relationship with God. So we now have the solution to the aforementioned question because when all is said and done, would we really want to live in the extremes of an either/or situation. All free will or all determined?

Think of it like this...given the state of the human condition, would we really want 100% free will to shape our outcomes? NO! And at the same time, do we really think 100% of our life is already determined? Of course not...what would be the point of getting out of bed in the morning?

I like how Steven Furtick puts it, "I still believe God gives us enough ink to write our story in His Story."

This is why I love The Holy Scriptures. Even if one denies the existence of God, they have one problem. They live in God's World. Only the writings from God, such as Proverbs 16.1 and 16.9 can give us such insight to our thinking and our actions.

So here is my final point and why I am convicted of it. If Hebrews 11.6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith, then we are living in sin with indecision. Why? Because indecision is a lack of trust and trust is the action form of faith. Don't let indecision force your hand. Forget the fear involved from making a wrong decision from free-will and let go of the depression of believing that everything is already determined. Praise God for our freedom and trust God for His Sovereignty.

Pray Like Jesus

"Preaching a pagan-style gospel teaches that as long as we
have enough faith in Jesus, then we don't have to be like Jesus."
...a paraphrase from Mark Driscoll,
~ Pray Like Jesus:The Gethsemane Prayer ~

Tired of hearing the pagan practice of the prosperity gospel?...the prosperity gospel is when we use Prayer, Scripture, and experience to try and align God to our will. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, is when God utilizes Prayer, Scripture, and experience to align us to His Will.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect,
the prosperity gospel is pagan...

...Mark Driscoll, in his sermon called, Pray Like Jesus: The Gethsemane Prayer, explains (and I paraphrase) that "so much of what we hear today is a brand of theology that will not be strong enough for us when we need it the most."

Christianity is a belief in a person (Jesus Christ)...it is not a coping mechanism or some magic trick for material wealth and prosperous gain...it is a relationship based on a theology that will be everything for us when we need it the most...Driscoll goes on to say, "being a follower of Jesus Christ may not get us around the obstacles of life, but it will get us through the obstacles of life."

At the end of the sermon, Driscoll outlines and speaks briefly on eleven questions about prayer... questions that challenge us to see if our prayer life is in line with God's plan...Below, I have included the eleven questions...but along with those questions, I highly encourage you to either watch Driscoll's sermon or listen to it on the Mars Hill App or via podcast.

01. Do you pray to get from God or to get God?
02. Do you pray to move God or for God to move you?
03. Do you pray to get around pain or through pain?
04. Do you courageously punctuate your prayers with "Your - Will - Be - Done...?"
• We do present our requests to God, but we should always end with, "Your Will Be Done..."
05. Do you pray out of Holy or unholy depression?
• Holy despair/depression = due to sin and its effects
• unholy despair/depression = not getting our way
06. Do you pray in faith knowing that God is not the author of sin, but is the author over sin?
07. Do you ask your friends to pray for you even if you know they will fail to do so?
08. Do you pray to both hear and accept God's will for your life?
09. Do you accept that God will answer your prayers with a "yes, no, or later?"
10. Do you know that knowing God's Will is far easier than walking in it? (Hebrews 5.7-8)
11. Do you know a godly wife who lived like Jesus Prayed? (1 Corinthians 11.3)
• You have to listen to his explanation to understand this question...

"God’s main purpose for you is not what you do. It's who you become."
~ John Ortberg ~

Improv

If you are a fan of comedy, then you know how amazing actors are when it comes to Improv. Now I am all for being proactive and planning, but when it comes to life in Christ and following the leading of our Counselor, The Holy Spirit, then we must be ready to do a little Improv ourselves, which actually brings excitement into life.

Mark Batterson, in his book, In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day, says it like this:

"I know that part of us wants God to take us to a three act play with a clearly defined plot that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. But Jesus takes us to the Improv instead. We want the entire script up front, but that would undermine our dependence upon the Holy Spirit."

The whole point of following Christ is Trust...The peak at the mountain top of our Faith is Trust. Living life in Christ as though it's an Improv forces us to lean on Christ...if we had a script, would we really develop a relationship with Him?

Batterson goes on to say, "Following Jesus and keeping in step with the Spirit requires the art of improvisation. We've got to develop an affinity for uncertainty and learn to enjoy the journey."

The Scriptures reveal many things that increase our certainty. For instance a spiritual certainty. We know we are saved, forgiven, and redeemed. But for circumstantial uncertainty, that is something we must embrace and that is what Faith in Christ is all about!

The Responsibility of The Revelation

Albert Einstein was once asked what he would do if he had sixty minutes to save the world...I love his response, "I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution."

One of the problems I seek a solution for is the origin of sin. I desperately want to know everything in the realms of origin, purpose, morality, and destiny, but I especially want to know the nature of satan and the origin of sin. The reason is because life does not have to be as hard as we make it out to be, and if we would simply become aware of satan's strategy of deception and doubt, we can get on with God's purpose and plans...

I understand Genesis 3 and the fall of man, but I want to go farther back...satan was created before the creation of man, he was cast out of heaven because he desired to be God. We can read accounts of who he was and how this happened in certain areas of Scripture, and even Jesus stated in Luke 10.18, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." But we don't know exactly why satan was so unsatisfied despite his perfection, and if satisfied, why would he rebel? Why would satan desire to be the king of hell instead of a servant in Heaven? One reason is due to the sin of pride, but I still wonder why satan has this internal pride?

So in my "fifty-five" minute search, God thankfully cuts to the chase and leads me to the "five minute" finding of the solution:

“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions." ~ Deuteronomy 29:29 ~

...so what it boils down to is this: We have questions and we want answers, but our responsibility relies in God's Revelation. Forget about the secret things...leave those to God...

...God wants us to take care of the business we do know, and trust Him with the business only He knows..."Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD." ~Jeremiah 17.7~

So what do we do? We Trust God and we take initiative to do something with our lives. I like how Erwin McManus puts it:

"We must do something to seize divine moments
as opposed to sitting back and watching life happen."

"We have defined holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to. I am convinced the great tragedy is not the sins we commit, but the life that we fail to live...this requires initiative...

...those who change the world, who make a difference in history, who live life rather than simply watch it, have at least one common characteristic among them:

...they do something."

This is so rich because it points straight to the life of Jesus...look at what Jesus says in John 10:37-38 about the importance of what we do...

"Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father” (emphasis added).

Let's not focus on what we don't know to interfere with what we do know. Jesus said we will do "greater things" as we follow Him and believe. Plus, doing, as opposed to not doing, not only brings glory to God, but it makes satan cringe...

• satan does not necessarily care if we don't drink alcohol, but he hates it if we feed the hungry
• satan could care less if we don't cuss, but he hates if we Praise God
• satan yawns at the fact that we don't smoke or if we don't lie, etc,
but he hates it when we serve the poor and minister to the lost.
• satan could even care less if we read The Bible just as long as we don't live it...

So let's stop worrying about being perfect and knowing all the answers. Let's stop "defining holiness through what we separate ourselves from rather than what we give ourselves to." Let's stop tucking in our shirts, brushing our hair and putting on an image of being Mr. or Ms. Nice who do not offend...

Let's start doing "greater things" and take responsibility for what God has revealed to us!

For a great read on doing "greater things" and taking responsibility from God's Revelations, take a look at the awesome post,
Does Jesus know you?

Seeking Jesus

Thoughts about seeking Jesus...

> We don't seek Him for His sake...I have heard that we can't search for Jesus because He is not lost...True, Jesus is not lost, but this does not mean that we can't seek after or look for Jesus...it's the frame of reference that defines what it means to seek or search for Christ...we look, not to find Jesus, but instead to find ourselves clothed in Christ.

The way The Scriptures speak of seeking Jesus is for our sake, not His...we are the one's who are lost without Him...

So it's not that Jesus needs us to find Him, it's that He provides what we are looking for...

There are loads of Scripture that speak of our necessity to seek Christ...but here are three great ones for reference:

* Psalm 34:10

The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

* Jeremiah 29.13-14

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.

* Psalm 27:4

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple

Opportunities Of Faith

Hebrews 11.6, which states the following three things, has given me a framework for living...I know that God is always with us, but at times, it will feel like He is not. Why? Because He wants us to trust Him. Note the following three points of Hebrews 11.6:

1. Without faith it is impossible to please God
2. Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
3. We must believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Falling Backwards Leads You Forwards = Knowing and Trusting
You see, even though God is always present and active in our lives, we still must come to embrace the fact that it is impossible to please God without faith...so there is a dynamic juxtaposition of living a life of adventure and opportunity when it comes to following God...a "knowing" and a "trusting."

It's kind of like the "Trust" drill that you play in team building exercises...you fall backwards into your teammates arms...you know they are there to catch you, but it is still scary to fall backwards where you can not see...all you can do is trust they will catch you...sometimes we must fall backwards to move forwards...

God's Control, Our Opportunity
What this means is that while God is in control, He still gives us the opportunity to take responsibility in being major players in His game plan for life. We can't sit around wanting God to do everything...He wants our involvement...I see this as an honor and a blessing.

The drawback is that it can be scary and daunting and fear will creep in...but this is what I love about following God... He is going to lead us to Opportunities of Faith...we will be scared, but at the same time, we will be excited...I like how Mark Batterson puts it:

"Don’t let mental lions keep you from experiencing everything God has to offer. The greatest experiences will often double as the scariest experiences. The defining moments will often double as the scariest decisions."

Batterson also says a great thing about how blessings come to be: "The genealogy of blessing always traces back to God-Ordained Risks."

God Creates So That We Will Conquer
You see, when it comes to God-Ordained opportunity, God will create them, but He then wants us to conquer them...God was with David, Joshua and Caleb, and Jesus, but at the same time, David had to sling the stone, Joshua and Caleb had to conquer the land, and Jesus had to embrace The Cross...

Your Stone, Your Land, Your Cross
What is it for you? Where do you need to Trust God...where do you need to offer up a faith that pleases The Lord?...Just like David, Joshua, Caleb, and Jesus, and a host of other Biblical heroes, It's the same for us...God has a plan and a will for our lives. We can achieve our best for His Glory if we simply stay on task...Here is a good statement from Rick Warren about God's Will in your life...

"God gives you enough time to do His Will. If you can't get it all done, you are doing stuff out of His Will or doing it a wrong way."

Do the impossible and you will find God. If you crave comfort you will miss out. If things are not working, then re-evaluate. It's Time to Trust and Conquer! Soli Deo Glori!

Think Differently To Discover God's Will

Do you want to know God's Will for your life? If yes, then here is what you must do:

~ Change The Way You Think ~

Here is how Romans 12.2 says it,

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (emphasis added).

In terms of changing the way we think, other translations say, "Renewing Of Your Mind." Ask God to renew your mind and change the way you think, then discover ways to do so through Prayer, Bible Meditation, talking with Christian leaders, family, and friends, listening to podcast, etc...Get involved with new experiences...serving, missions, ministries, etc...Read new books, learn a new activity, see from new perspectives and use Scripture as your filter...do whatever it takes to stop conforming to the world and its teachings, and start listening to God as He molds you into everything He created you to be...All For His Glory!

God Will Bless You...If...

...we all want God's Blessings, but sometimes we must be in the proper context in order to receive them. We must remember what Galatians 6.7 tells us:

~ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.
A man reaps what he sows. ~

So here are two points James gives us in order to receive God's Blessings and to reap what we sow...

God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him. James 1.12 CEV

But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. James 1.25 CEV

James 2

Notes from James 2:

• No Favoritism - God's Kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. (2.1-7)

• Royal Rule of The Scriptures - "Love others as you love yourself." (2.8-11)

• All-or-None - God's commands are all-or-none, we can not pick and choose according to our liking. (2.8-11)

• We reap what we sow - (2.12-13)

• Demonstrate your faith through your action - "God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense." (2.14-18)

• Faith and works are interconnected - Faith expresses itself in works - our belief is demonstrated through our actions. We must have a child-like faith that leads to bold action. Abraham believed God and backed it up with action, led to Abraham being called "God's Friend." (2.21-24)

Main Idea of James 2: Seamless Unity of believing and doing. (2.25-26)

James 1

Notes from James 1 MSG

• Persevere and Endure. Don't look for the quick fix. Build and exercise your faith by overcoming challenges...this leads to maturity, proficiency, and development. (1.2-4)

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
~ James 1.12 ~

• Pray for Wisdom. Pray with the two B's (Boldness and Belief). God loves to answer this Prayer. (1.5-8)

• God does not trip us up. Our sin and lustful desires (which have a terrible snowball effect) trip us up. God is there to deliver us. (1.13-15)

• Stay On Course = No Distractions (1.16-18) and (vs 25)... (also see Ps 119.1). Every desirable (see Ps 34.4) and beneficial gift comes out of Heaven (1.16-18).

• God will Landscape us with His Word. (1.19-21)

• Act on God's Word (1.22-24). Our affirmation arrives through action. (1.25)

• Reach out. (specifically to the homeless and the loveless). Guard against corruption. (1.26-27)

Transformed

I was inspired from Mark Batterson's post the other day, titled, Rewiring The Mind.

He gave a great illustration from a study that was performed at the National Institutes of Mental Health. The study was on a finger-tapping exercise and it showed how we can actually create new neurons in our brains, a process called Neurogenesis.

Like Mark said in his post, we can juxtapose this with Romans 12.2:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I love this thought because as we read Scripture, our goal should not simply be a gain in knowledge. I am a trivia junkie with the best of them, but we must shift our hopes from answering all the Bible trivia on Jeopardy one day, to a desire of transformation and gaining the Mind of Christ.

This is so applicable to all areas of life as well. If our end goal is merely knowledge, then nothing will ever get done because we are not meshing it with action. Without a transformation, without a rewiring, without a Neurogenesis in our lives, then we will never:

Be good stewards
Walk By Faith
Obtain our New Year's Resolutions
Break a bad habit or start a good habit
Love our neighbor
Get in shape
Save and invest our finances wisely
Form good relationships

You name it, the list goes on and on... As humans, we represent the most intelligent of all life forms. But you must agree, that we are also rationally irrational. We know what is right and wrong, good or bad, yet we still do the same things over and over again. Why? Because we have not changed despite our wealth of knowledge.

So to live according to God's assignment in our lives and complete down to the last detail what He has called us to do, to achieve our hopes and dreams during this generation of life, we must have new synapses fire, we must start "finger-tapping" in all areas of our lives so that new connections will be made. Attitudes must change and paradigms must be shifted...

...Easy? Not quite, Newton's first law of motion does not only apply to mechanics and laws of physics. We also have a resistance to change, an inertia, in our daily activities and thought patterns. So it is time to take our knowledge and mesh our beliefs with our works...

How do we get transformed?
1. Dig into God's Word (Landscaped with The Word of God) and then Act on it!
2. Grab a Glimpse of God's Revelation...eliminating all distractions
3. Be men and woman of action...we will find delight and affirmation in the action...

> God's Word + Action = Transformation <

I love how James puts it in his famous, Faith In Action, section of Chapter 2. "Dear friends, do you think you'll ever get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?

He goes on to say, how we have works of faith...The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

So go forward today being renewed with God's Word and being transformed by Faith fruitful works.

Why a person would sit when he can soar, spectate when he can play,
or atrophy when he can develop is beyond me - Bill Hybels

Context For Miracles

Cool thought I heard from Erwin McManus in his "Beyond Us" Message titled Poverty/Generosity...He said:

"The Context for Miracles is Sacrifice."

When you ponder that thought, it is very true. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice and it turned into the ultimate miracle. From the miracle of birth to the miracle of breath, most if not all miracles, come via sacrifice. Usually a sacrifice is linked to faith, and the faith leads to a miracle.

The hard part is that we tend to view a sacrifice as a difficulty...we simply need a paradigm shift...

...Look at it like an ROI, a Return On Investment...specifically a gain from an ROI...When our sacrifices lead to miracles, then what we receive always outweighs what we give, and the great thing is, according to Ephesians 2.10, God has already planned in advance for us to make some great investments!

Look forward to making some sacrifices (investments) for 2010! Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Revelation, Our Perseverance

¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— Ephesians 6:18 (New King James Version) (emphasis added).

In his book, When The Enemy Strikes, Charles F. Stanley gives a different spin on what it means to persevere in Prayer. He does mention the typical things we think of with perseverance, but later he talks about how perseverance equates to availability...being available for God to speak to us. We all want God to speak to us, but Stanley gives a good explanation, that sometimes, God will wait for us to have three things before He will reveal to us His desires and His plans:

1. Quiet Heart
2. Calm Spirit
3. An Expectant Attitude

Quiet Heart
These three things may sound familiar, but if we really hold ourselves accountable, I imagine the majority of us don't really have a quiet heart when we pray. We probably are thinking about our to-do lists, the game on tonight, or perhaps how good the organic wheat grass cake is going to taste this weekend. When was the last time you really went to your "Whispering Chamber," prayed and said, "God what do you want to tell me?"

Calm Spirit
In the martial arts circles, the Japanese have a saying that reads, "Miso No Koro." It translates as "A mind like still water." The meaning is that in battle or combat, you can not be frantic and worried. We see this in sports all the time, Joe Montana was the king of 4th quarter comebacks in his time with the San Francisco 49ers. Joe's adrenal glands were pumping at full force, but his mind was always still, his spirit was always calm. We must have a calm spirit in our Prayer with The Holy God and realize He will reveal and that He is in control.

An Expectant Attitude
Human Optimism + Biblical Realism = An Expectant Attitude. God responds and rewards faith (Hebrews 11.6), but faith is different from optimism. For example, there are enough self-help books on the market to line along The Great Wall of China, and each one tells us how to think positively, but if our positive thinking is not lined up with God's Biblical Realism, then we are headed in the wrong direction. So what does an expectant attitude mean? It means being ready for God anywhere at anytime. Do we really believe that God exist, that He cares, and that He is Sovereign? If so, we must approach Him with an expectant attitude.

Quiet The Heart, Calm The Spirit, Expect The Unexpected, and you will Persevere in Prayer. I look forward to what God has to say to us all as we listen to Him like never before!

Fearless

Max Lucado's new book, Fearless, has been released!

Imagine Your Life Without Fear

He also preaches the book in his new sermon series!!! Watch it now!

Fearless Intro: Why Are You Afraid? from UpWords Ministries on Vimeo.

God's Quarterback Academy, Part I

Split Right 787 check swing, check V...Right Slot 93...Left Slot 82 and Go...

The above "code" is known as football nomenclature. This code represents information for a play or plays in football that a quarterback tells to his fellow warriors in the huddle as they prepare for glory.

Along with the nomenclature, there are many things a quarterback must learn in order to become a champion. Over the next three post, I will highlight three aspects of what all great QB's understand and see how we can apply them in order to be Champions For Christ!

1. Take What The Defense Gives You
2. The West Coast Offense
3. Road Tested and Battle Ready

Take What The Defense Gives You (Acts 28)
Now I am firm believer in setting the pace and being on the attack. I believe that the best defense is a great offense, but I also know that sometimes we must, as a good football team does, "establish the run in order to utilize the pass."...In essence, sometimes we must take what the defense gives us and use that to our advantage.

In a big defensive battle, a team will pound and pound the defense with a running game, and then when the time is right, they will STRIKE with a HUGE pass play. And even on pass plays, the QB has anywhere between 3 and 5 receivers to throw to. He reads the coverage and takes what the defense gives him.

Where are you in life right now? Do you feel like you are having to establish the run in order to utilize the pass? Perhaps you feel like Paul and it appears that God has possibly led you on a divine detour. God used a shipwreck and a snakebite in Paul's life, took him off his original planned course in order to use him for a specific purpose (Acts 28).

If this is the case in your quarter of life right now, what you need to do is simply "take what the defense is giving you." Read your options...if option is A is covered, throw to option B, etc...But don't stop the path God has led you to...keep picking away at the defense and soon you will score...

...it does not matter how you get to the end zone for the big touchdown...What does matter is that you are following and trusting God to lead you there. What also matters is the person, the "QB" he is making you to be on your path for the "winning touchdown."

If God can use a shipwreck and a snakebite as a Divine detour to fulfill his purposes through Paul, perhaps he is having you "establish the run in order to utilize the pass." Keep gutting it out, persevere, and sooner than later, God is going to show you the path, He will give you the game plan for your success, which will bring Him all The Glory.

Trust In God To Make Something Of You!

...make something of me. You can do it;
you've got what it takes — but God, don't put it off
(From Psalm 40.16-17 MSG)

The Book of Romans says that "we call Abraham 'father' not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. (Romans 4.17-18, emphasis added)

I don't know where you might be in your life, but if you are ready for God to make something of your life, no matter what the circumstances, take some encouragement from Abraham...

Here is how it happened:
• Abraham and Sarah wanted a family, Abraham was old and Sarah was infertile...no worries though, because they believed and trusted in The Almighty God

• Abraham dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing.

• When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do.

*** We have the choice on what we believe...
we must DECIDE like Abraham
to live on the basis of what God WILL Do!***

• Therefore, God made Abraham father of a multitude of peoples

• Abraham was old and Sarah had decades of infertility...despite this, they never focused on their own impotence and said, "It's hopeless." Instead, God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!"

• Abraham did not tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions.
• Abraham PLUNGED into the PROMISE and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what He said.

• Listen to what The Bible says next: "Abraham was declared fit before god by TRUSTING God to set him right." (From Romans 4.19-25 MSG, emphasis added).

We must go through training in athletics, studies, work, etc in order to be declared fit for those specific endeavors...if we want God to trust us, we must trust Him...allow your current circumstances to put you "in shape" so that you can be declared fit before God, ready to PLUNGE into the PROMISE that God has for your life!

Final note: From this same chapter, The Book of Romans says, "It's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we EMBRACE and BELIEVE The ONE who brought JESUS to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God."

Our salvation is set, Praise Christ!...Jesus has made us fit before God...now, if we want to live the abundant life God called us to, we must trust and believe like never before...Hebrews 11.6 says, without faith it is impossible to please God...

Trust Him, Worship Him, Believe In Him, Praise Him...The same resurrection power of Jesus Christ is available to us today, it's time to resurrect, roll away the stone that has been keeping you locked up, take off the bandages, and become what God has PROMISED for you!

Trust in God, He will make something of you!

God's Pattern = Your Purpose

Pattern Recognition
As intellectual beings, humans love to learn. One way we learn is through pattern recognition. Wikipedia defines *Pattern recognition, (PR) as "the act of taking in raw data and taking an action based on the category of the data."

Types of data use by PR are found in various fields. For example The Medical Sciences use pattern recognition as the basis for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. You can also find uses of PR in typical applications as seen with automatic speech recognition, the automatic recognition of handwritten postal codes on postal envelopes, or the automatic recognition of images of human faces.

Not only do we use PR for learning technical information, but we also use it in everyday life. We learn to tie our shoes using a certain pattern...We use patterns to learn in all areas such as socially, vocationally, physically, financially, and spiritually.

Righteous Patterns
God gives us His patterns so that we can learn of His Righteous ways. Psalm 119.7 says the following:

I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I'm going to do what you tell me to do;

If we want to do what God tells us to do, then we must learn His patterns. If you want to know the purpose of your life, then you must seek God and recognize His patterns.

God's Patterns = Your Purpose

You see, God reveals to us how to live. I think sometimes what happens is that we read other people's patterns or follow cultures patterns instead of God's Patterns. When that happens, our neural network gets all jacked up and we receive false signals on how to live.

Neural Network
In *neuroscience, a neural network describes a population of physically interconnected neurons or a group of disparate neurons whose inputs or signaling targets define a recognizable circuit. Communication between neurons often involves an electrochemical process.

Our communication and processing with The Holy Spirit is somewhat like this neuronal network. When we are interconnected with The Holy Counselor, He gives us inputs and signals that target and define a recognizable circuit for living according to His plans...His Patterns...the circuit of The Living God.

Don't get me wrong. I am not reducing God down to some formula...I am simply saying that just as my brain is signaling an electrochemical message to my hands to type right now, so it is with our relationship with God...our spirit receives a signal from God...a signal to recognize His Patterns and then act upon them.

Stay On Course
What has God been revealing to you lately? What patterns has He been showing you. Verses one and two of Psalm 119 say, "You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him."

Stay on Course. Seek God. Dig into His Word. Pray with every breath. Walk straight on the road He has set. Then you will begin to see how He works. And just like learning to tie your shoes, you will begin to pick up on His patterns, receiving his input and signals on how to live!

• • •

You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.

*source: wikipedia.org