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“Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 (NCV)
Isn’t it nice to feel chosen by someone? When we are growing up we love to hear mom or dad pick us up and say “You are my little boy/girl”. Our children long to hear the words “I’m proud of you!” As young adults it’s exciting when that special someone says, in a variety of ways, “I choose you. I want you to be with me forever.”
Unfortunately, the opposite is true far too often. Children, especially those from families torn apart by divorce, grow up wondering why they were put into this world. Young people see the world wracked by war, disease, and political turmoil and wonder why things are the way they are, how long before we self-destruct and why they were put in this world. We adults worry about being able to stay healthy, make our financial obligations, and hold our relationships together.
Life seems to go easier when we feel we have a purpose for being here. The path we travel can take us through times of wilderness. We can travel through areas of our lives when the path is shrouded in darkness, or at best enveloped in a fog that keeps us from knowing our direction in life. Our journey can elevate us to the highest mountain top, or through the deepest valley.
No matter what you are going through right now; regardless of the reason for finding yourself in the situation you are in, life is easier when you know you have a purpose for being here and that someone cares if you are successful.
Remember this, with God there are no unplanned pregnancies, no ‘accidents’ when it comes to conception. You are here as a result of a plan God instituted long before your mother gave birth. Regardless of what people tell you about your lack of value, God formed you as you are. The aimlessness of life you feel is God’s call to bring you closer to himself. Your failures are God’s instrument to help you grow stronger in life.
For Jeremiah, his calling was a prophet. For you it may be to show Christ’s love to the kids you teach, the people you package the fast-food burger, the lonely old couple at table 7, or the sick child in the hospital room. Whatever your calling, you were placed here by the Creator God of the Universe to grow in relationship to him and show his love and grace to those who cross your path.
You are NOT an accident my friend. You are a masterpiece created by the master creator himself. Don’t listen to the voices that want you to believe otherwise.
PRAYER: Thank you God for making me just the way I am. Thank you for putting me where you have in life so I can show those around me the love of Jesus. Strengthen me for the battles ahead through your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him. So do not get tired and stop trying. Hebrews 12:3 (NCV)
The writer to the Hebrews challenges us to press on in the face of ‘wicked people’ intent on doing evil things to us. The example he uses is the ultimate example of love, grace, patience, mercy and forgiveness, Jesus Christ. Jesus, the writer reminds us, endured attacks by evil people yet he held on to accomplish the task before him in spite of the adversity.
You mind may conjure up visions of these ‘wicked people’ who were a constant thorn in Jesus side throughout his ministry. You may see battles similar to Cowboys and Indians, or Cops and Robbers. Maybe you see some heavenly version of ‘Star Wars’ being played out with Jesus in the center of the battle and enemy warriors surrounding him.
Before you let your imagination run wild, think for a moment of whom the ‘wicked people’ were that the writer is referring to. Maybe you are thinking it was the Romans. After all, they were ruthless warriors whose army ruled the known world with an iron fist. But frankly, the Romans weren’t interested in Jesus. Caesar was perfectly fine letting the Jews have their religion and their prophets as long as they remained in political subjection to the Roman Government by paying taxes and behaving themselves. Jesus was just another religious zealot in a long line of kooks that walked the paths of Palestine.
The ‘wicked people’ probably weren’t women in Galilee and the surrounding area. Jesus’ treatment of women was remarkable compared to society of the day. When Jesus walked the paths of Galilee the top priorities were livestock, children and women, in that order. Jesus elevated women to a place of importance equal to men.
Robbers? Tax Collectors? The poor and destitute? Prostitutes? The wealthy? Were they the wicked people? Not likely. These were the very people that sought Jesus out for comfort and a word of hope and forgiveness. Nor were those who opposed the Roman Government. Even though Jesus never spoke in opposition to the Romans, he certainly spoke a message of freedom and hope. Many mistakenly thought he would become King of Israel.
So, again, just who were the people the writer of Hebrews is referring to? Who were these wicked people that were always a constant thorn in the side of Jesus? Sadly, those who opposed Jesus the most were the religious people of the day. The ones with the status and respect of the people.
As you struggle through the path of life you are on, remember this. Jesus endured the same scoffing you have endured. He saw firsthand how people who ‘failed’ were treated. They are the ones he reached out to.
It doesn’t matter what struggle you are enduring right now, Jesus understands. Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t allow those who are intent on reminding you of your failures and weaknesses to pull you down. Jesus knows all about your struggle. He didn’t come to condemn you. He came to encourage, to offer hope and forgiveness. To extend the grace of God to you.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you today for the fact that you understand my struggles and love me even though I fail. Empower me with your spirit to stop listening to those who want to pull me down. Help me rise above the attacks so I can live in the freedom a relationship with you offers. Amen.
So be very careful how you live. Do not live like those who are not wise, but live wisely. Use every chance you have for doing good, because these are evil times. Ephesians 5:15-16 (NCV)
“I don’t have enough time.”
How many times do we say that in a day? There are, of course variations of that saying. The reality is that sometimes ‘time’ is our biggest enemy. Everyone on earth has exactly the same amount of time, 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds a day. That’s it. You can’t stretch them out. You can’t bank some today for use at a later time.
Someone once said, “Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note.
Today is ready cash. Spend it wisely!” You can’t do anything about the time you wasted yesterday, so forget about it. No sense crying over spilt milk. Planning for tomorrow it a wise thing to do, but putting things off until tomorrow only adds to the workload and stress for that day.
Today, more than ever we are being pulled in a multitude of directions. We have opportunities socially, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and physically like never before. We can get tired out just going over our day planner!
The key to wise living is balance, but balance is hard to attain to. Take the story of Mary and Jesus and his disciples). One was concerned about Spiritual things (sitting at Jesus feet and listening to him). Jesus responded to the stress and frustration of Martha by saying (my paraphrase), Martha what you are doing is noble, but don’t sweat the small stuff.
There’s no easy formula or 12-step process to avoiding stress and making the most of our time because each of us has unique situations and opportunities. But here are a few things I am trying to learn in living wisely.
* ‘Just say no’. This is more than a quip to keep us off drugs. Sometimes we need to say no to some very good things in order to do better things well. We aren’t called on to save the world. During those tough decisions on whether to say yes or no, pray first, decide later.
* “Will this enhance my walk with God?” Our spiritual lives must take the forefront in all of our dealings with others. Is it more important to [blog, be on Facebook, get my ‘tweet’ in] than to spend time in God’s word and prayer? “Oh, (you say) but I use my blog, my FaceBook, my Tweet account to spread the gospel and encourage people. While these are noble gestures, Jesus is more concerned about your relationship with him than the number of blog readers, tweets or FaceBook Friends.
* “Will this benefit my physical health?” We are God’s holy temple. Take that walk (or run). Visit the gym. Skip the second helping at the dinner table or pass on desert. When our physical bodies are out of sync it can affect the way we think and act towards God, ourselves and others. Take care of your physical body before you take care of others.
* “Will this improve my emotional/intellectual ability to perform?” There are many good things out there. Things that can change society. Things that can make the lives of other people better. But if your own emotional or intellectual well-being is strained you eventually burn out and that never helps anyone.
When the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Church in Ephesus he mentioned wise living before ‘doing good’ for a reason. Even during his life people were being pulled in many directions. Paul knew the importance of living wisely so that we can ‘do good things’ better and for a longer period of time.
The four ideas mentioned are not profound, but they take a lifetime to master. Allow God’s Spirit to lead you in what is best for you so that, as a Christ-follower you can change your world without destroying yourself and those around you in the process.
PRAYER: Father God, I won’t ask you for more time. You’ve given me all the time I need. What I do ask is that you empower me with your Spirit to see the wisdom of simple living, taking the time I need to take care of me so I can take care of those around me. Amen.
In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people, because from the very beginning God had decided this in keeping with his plan. And he is the One who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants. Ephesians 1:11 (NCV)
I don’t know if this is a true story or not, but a great sculptor was allegedly asked how he went about taking a block of granite and transforming it into a statue. His response went like this: “Well, imagine I wanted to make a statue of a horse. I simply look at the block of granite and chip away everything that doesn’t look like a horse!”
For people like me that are artistically challenged in the area of sculpture, that explanation is completely worthless. My ability to make anything from clay or granite would have to have a plaque underneath it with the inscription “I don’t know either. It didn’t turn out the way I’d like.”
That’s not true with your Heavenly Father. Unlike you or me, he had a plan at the beginning of time. His plan was for you to have a relationship with him. It’s as though, in all his power and majesty, he looked a piece of clay and said, “I’m going to create my perfect lover, my perfect object of my affection. I’m going to make something for me that is exactly as I want it. Something I can love more than any of my other creations”
Once he finished molding and forming, your image appeared! You may think that sounds ridiculous. “Just look at me,” you say, “look at my scars. Look at the mistakes I’ve made. Look at the mess I’ve made of my life. Look at all the people I’ve hurt. How can you say that God created me to be some perfect love of his?”
Your question is understandable. We all have ugly scars from our past; we have all endured the consequences of stupid decisions that hurt ourselves and others. But the explanation is really rather simple, from God’s perspective anyway. When he looks at you, he looks beyond the scars and mistakes, he looks beyond the rebellion and anger, he looks beyond the frustration and worry.
God planned you from the beginning. He knew every obstacle you would have to endure. He knew your failures. He knew all about your rebellion. He knew all about the abuse and pain you’d have to suffer. That’s why he sent Jesus.
When I set my camera to manual focus I can make objects seem blurry or clear, perfect or imperfect; acceptable or unacceptable. Jesus is like God’s auto-focus. When you come to Christ and ask forgiveness for all the flaws in your life (the sin, the anger, the hate, the hurts) he looks at me through Jesus and sees the perfection of his plan.
You are planned by your Heavenly Father and his plans always work out just the way he wants them to. That’s what grace is all about. Grace is all about a relationship with the Father, through Jesus Christ, who sets us free from the penalty of sin.
PRAYER: Lord God, I thank you for your ability to carry out your plan for me exactly aw you intended. Thank you for Jesus and for the fact that because of him, I’m exactly what you want. Amen.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. Hebrews 12:1 (NCV)
I’ll admit it. I’m not a runner. Not that I have anything gainst people that run. I have several friends that are runners and they seem nice enough. Actually I rather admire their commitment to the sport. I have one friend in particular that lives about ten miles outside of town. One night I saw him running on the local High School running track. An hour later he was still running. As I headed home I saw him running along the highway. It was then I realized he’d run into town to run on the track and then ran home.
He talked to me one time and said he was really hurting. He’d run two marathons in one weekend. “I won’t do that again.” I thought: “Neither would I because I’d be dead after the first one!”
I prefer walking myself. When you walk you can take your time. People who walk smile and say hi to people they meet. Runners grimace and rarely great you as they glide past you. So, even though I know there are many valid points to running, I still prefer to walk.
Having said all that, the Apostle Paul likens the Christian walk to more of a run. The writer to the Hebrews implores us to run the race and never give up. The word ‘run’ in Greek is the word ‘agon’. It’s the same word we get the word agony from.
Living for Christ was never meant to be easy. Although I’m not a runner (did I mention that already?) I know that to be a runner you need to start slow, working up your distance, speed and endurance. I know that you need to pay attention to the signals your body is sending you; pay attention to your limitations; know what you can do and what you can’t do to your body; learn to pace yourself and not take on more than you can handle; learn to push through the tough stuff. In short, running is hard work, but the benefits far outweigh the pain.
One more thing I know about running (actually walking too) is that it’s far easier to quit running habits than it is to establish running habits. Habits take a long time to develop, but they are well worth it. That’s true in our physical lives, but it’s also true in our spiritual lives.
Too often we don’t establish good habits in our lives because we give up too soon. We don’t have the commitment to push on. We can accomplish most anything in our lives (exercise, Spiritual disciplines, eating habits, etc.) if are truly committed to it.
If you truly believe your Spiritual life is important to you and that you want to grow closer to God, then you need to make it a priority. Work hard at it. Never give up. Know your limitations and what keeps you from meeting with God and avoid those pitfalls. Runners in a marathon come to a place they call ‘hitting a wall’. It’s that point where the body tells you that you can’t go on. It’s lying to you. You CAN go on. You just need to push through it.
The same goes for our spiritual lives. You may be hitting a wall right now in your walk with God. You may hear the voices telling you that you can’t do this anymore, that walking with God isn’t worth it. Don’t listen. Push on! Finish the race and finish strong! It’s well worth the agony.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you showed in your life how important it is to keep focused on a goal. I struggle daily to meet the demands of my life. I give up too easily and then fight the guilt I have for quitting. Empower me with your Spirit to push on when the going gets tough. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 