Aug 29, 2011
The dictionary is filled with hundreds and thousands of definitions. However, I can’t pick up good old Webster and ask him to define me.
Recently I found myself thinking I was defined by my circumstances, my job, my ministry and my abilities. I then began to compare those definitions of my life to the expectations, ideas and opinions of others. The results from doing that were completely negative. Not only was my focus on myself , I sought to put others opinions over that of God. That led to self pity. Needless to say I allowed myself to become distracted and discouraged.
(sidenote: when the theme of your life is SELF there is only misery and grave disappointment)
Thankfully God reminded me of His beautiful Truth is: I am defined ONLY by Him (His work in me and His purpose for me) and that at times others can’t see or understand what He is doing.
So next time anyone seeks to put you in a box of their own making , try’s to define you with flat and pathetic words, measures your success with their short and crooked measuring stick; or when you find you’ve done it to yourself-Remember the One who knit you in your mothers womb and knows the number of your days. Keep all focus on Him and all value on His opinion , because in Him all joy abounds.
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Aug 17, 2011
“While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jarius, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Over hearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid just believe.” Mark 5:21-43
This summer I went into my three month internship with some expectations. Some of them were met, others were not. Having been at Gospel for Asia for a month last year, I did not expect to be out of my comfort zone as much as some of the other interns. Boy, was I wrong.
Everything was going well until one day we went to Celebrate Freedom. There we were to pass out the new No Longer a Slumdog books. To be honest, I was scared and I told another intern straight out, “I don’t think I can do this.” Now, I’ve been at multiple events in the past representing Gospel for Asia but this time I was intimidated because I actually had to STOP people who wouldn’t normally stop at this kind of booth. I was really insecure about this. After our group prayed to God though, it was almost as if He was strengthening all of us to go on and I noticed as my time went on, I became more and more excited about passing out the books.
Once I was in the airport over the July 4th weekend, and I saw this man sitting by himself on the other side of the terminal. God kept on pushing me to go and talk to Him, and each time I said “no” the conviction I needed to go over there got stronger and stronger. Eventually it go so strong, I knew I had to go and talk to him. So I went over and sat with Him and started asking Him some questions. I knew God wanted me to give Him a gospel tract, but I went away before being able to give him a Gospel tract. I was too afraid.
God, as He always does used my failure as a time of teaching. He comforted me saying, saying, “Even though you fail, I still love you.” That really boggled my mind a lot.
Also during this time, I came to the place in Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll where it talked abouat not fearing being the most common command of Jesus. This greatly encouraged me during this time.
I’m still not perfect. God will continue to challenge me to get out my comfort zone, as he challenges all of us in our weaknesses. Yet, one thing I do know, God will work through us as we turn to Him whether through our weakness our strengths.
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Jul 28, 2011
I was listening to a Pastor Chuck Smith message through the book of 1 Samuel. When he got to chapter 10, 1 Samuel 10:26 says, “Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts had God had touched.” Pastor Chuck shares how awesome and beautiful it is when God touches the heart of a man and how much potential there is when this man gives his life to serving the Lord. Pastor Chuck goes on to share how at one time Christianity was thought of as feminine and not really very manly. Pastor Chuck corrects that and says, “the most manly thing you can do is to give your whole life in undivided devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and in serving Him…that’s the most manly thing you can do!” Be a man or woman of God! Pastor Chuck continues on to share about firecrackers and how they have the ingredients for a big explosion while in the same way a man who has had his heart touched by God has such potential for a real big spiritual explosion! But then there’s also those firecrackers that are still packed with the ingredients for a big explosion but when they’re lit they’re duds and they fizzle out, just like in a similar way there’s those christians who have the ingredients inside him or her for a big spiritual explosion but they waste it and fizzle out.
Don’t be a fizzler with your life! Be a man or woman of God…that’s the most worthwhile and manly thing you can do! This will last for eternity! This is something I’ve been thinking about over these last few months. This message from Pastor Chuck has been encouraging, challenging and foundational to my life to not fizzle out and waste my potential for real big spiritual explosion.
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Jul 25, 2011
“Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things He hath done for you.”
This has been my favorite Bible verse for several years. It’s found in 1 Samuel 12:24. This verse has always encouraged me to do my best in serving the Lord. How can I serve Him with anything less than all my heart when He has done such great things for me?
Well, about a year and a half ago I found another verse that uses the same wording, Mark 5:19. Jesus has just healed a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. The man, being set free, sat at the feet of Jesus, the Bible says, “clothed and in his right mind”. His neighbors saw this and were afraid – they begged Jesus to leave their coasts.
Well, this man wasn’t about to let Jesus leave without him! He wanted to follow Jesus and be a disciple. He was free and could now go about the Lord’s work. As Jesus was entering into the boat the mat who was set free, followed after Him and begged to be allowed to go with Him.
“However, Jesus suffered him not but said unto him, ‘Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.'” – Mark 5:19
And that’s the last word on this man. There’s never another mention of him.
Throughout this year I’ve thought about that verse a lot. Go home and tell your friends how great things the Lord has done for you and hath had compassion on you. I’m excited to say that right now that’s exactly what the Lord is giving me the opportunity to do. I’m finishing up my School of Discipleship year very soon and when I’m done at Gospel For Asia I get to go home and tell all of my family, friends, and supporters what great things the Lord has done for me! I have the opportunity to tell people how great our God is and to encourage them.
So, what ever did happen to the man Jesus sent? The Bible doesn’t tell us – but I’m pretty sure that God did great things through him and that he was unstoppable.
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Jul 12, 2011
It has been too long since I’ve posted a blog but I wanted to share a big thing God is teaching me through His Word in the book of 1 Samuel. I decided I wanted to do a character study on King David. But I don’t like topical studies as much and instead wanted to just read through 1 and 2 Samuel. But along the way, the Lord has changed my plans and instead I found myself looking at all of the other characters, including King Saul.
This book shows us that both King David and Saul started good, humble and young. Its the same when God callers us into the ministry, we started good, young, humble and full of zeal and passion and eager to do whatever God would have us do and to joyfully do what those above us ask of us. At least, this was how it was for me!
You probably know the story…Israel was a theocracy (God was their King and ruler). They rejected God as their king and wanted to be like all of the other nations who had kings. So God gave them what they wanted and gave them King Saul, Israel’s first king. He was not God’s idea for a king…he was what the people wanted so God gave them what they wanted. But it would cause problems and a downfall of the nation Israel into evil, corruption and all kinds of problems.
After Samuel’s anointing of Saul to be king, in 1 Samuel 9:21 it says, “Saul answered, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?”
As it came time for Saul to be chosen among the tribes as King over Israel, they tried to bring him out to show the people but he was not found. Finally, with the help of the Lord, the Lord showed them that he has been hiding among the baggage (paraphrased from 1 Samuel 10:20-22)
Those two passages show Saul was a humble man. The Lord was also with Saul and Saul had the Lord’s anointing on his life. This to me sounds like an awesome beginning for the leader of Israel and to lead the nation in godliness.
He started out so good! But it didn’t continue like that nor did it finish that way. Saul’s first act of unbelief and disobedience came when he waited for Samuel to come bring a burnt and fellowship offering. But after 7 days (the time set by Samuel) he took the role of priest into his own hands and offered up the burnt and fellowship offerings. Samuel finally came and upon seeing what Saul had done, he rebuked him and called him foolish. Because of this, God rejected Saul as king and Samuel declared his unfitness to being Israel’s King. From here, Saul went down hill.
Later on, Saul was commanded by the Lord to go completely kill the Amalekites because of what they had done to Israel. First of all, something I never thought of before is that the Amalikites is a picture of our flesh. God commanded Saul to completely take them out and leave nothing alive. In the same way, God calls for us to completely kill and crucify our flesh and leave no room for it. Saul disobeyed and spared some of the animals including King Agag, the Amalikite king. In this way, we are not told to change our flesh, reform it or in some ways spare certain parts of our flesh…we’re told to completely kill it! This was just a side thought!
Upon Saul’s disobedience to completely wipe out the Amalikites, Samuel approaches Saul with rebuke and says in 1 Samuel 15:17, “Although you were once small in your eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you as king over Israel.” That verse shows that Saul was once humble and small but is no longer. You see Saul then voicing a confession and repentance but I don’t believe it’s sincere, but rather that he’s trying to defend his position, title and fame as he says in 1 Samuel 15:30, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel;come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” Saul goes down hill and the Lord’s anointing and spirit left him. God had sought after a man after His own heart who would then be king of Israel, this being David a young shepherd boy.
As Saul grew to know David he saw that David was met with more success then Saul and his name became well known (1 Sam 18:30). In 1 Sam 18:20 it says, “Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on, Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”
1 Samuel 18:12- “Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had left Saul.” Saul was afraid of losing his position as king and someone else taking that spot.
As this story of Saul goes on, he gets worse and worse and spends the rest of his life bent on killing and getting David. He became jealous, took his eyes off God, and tried to defend his kingship!
Looking at my life I see that in many ways in ministry I have been a Saul at times. I’ve started out good and humble but I’ve found myself jealous of another brother or sister’s success and I’ve been worried about going to a different department in the ministry and I’ve been worried and jealous about someone else taking my position in my department. I have struggled with this and one day it got the worst of me and found myself falling, emotionless but yet just wanting to cry and I had to step out. Thankfully this hadn’t led to bitterness, anger and revenge like it did to Saul. I’ve been praying every day that I would stay humble and rejoice in others successes. Later on, God showed me that it was He that humbled me because of my pride and desiring position and defending it and being jealous of others’ positions and successes.
Thank the Lord he protected me and my heart as I gave it up to him and now it’s so freeing to be able to work together with my brothers and sisters at GFA with no hard feelings of bitterness and jealousy of their position or success. The Lord is the one who puts people in positions and makes people successful…I’ve been learning to praise and thank God for this! We’re a family and we’re the body of Christ but I find myself being like Saul or being like the 12 disciples and trying to be the greatest, when instead we should rejoice and praise God for each others’ positions and successes in the ministry and work together in love and unity realizing that God has everyone in the place He desires for them at the time. Maybe someday God will raise me but I must be faithful in the ministry to where He has me now! There’s freedom in this! After all, it’s God’s ministry and in the process of reaching the lost in Asia He gets all the glory!
We see that King David sinned badly and made huge mistakes such as murder and committing adultery. But after all this, God still kept him as King and called him a man after his own heart and even made Jesus come through his family line. Why did David still have this? Because even in his faults and failings, he still allowed God to work with him and he sincerely repented and chased God’s will, didn’t defend his kingship, unlike Saul who was the opposite! Ultimately, Saul dies and falls on the sword…such a wasted life to someone who started out good, humble and had so much potential!
So, it’s not about how good we start, it’s about how well we finish! This to me has been a warning to my heart which has helped me to stay in the ministry, following God with all my heart! I’ve been praying and desiring to stay humble and therefore I believe God has given me practical situations to practice it and it’s been a struggle, but He never gives more than we can handle!
I could go on and on about this topic and all the things God is showing me through his word. Praise God!
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