Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

You are Gifted

January 2, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: 1 Peter 4:10, Be a success, child of God, Exodus 35:35, gifted by God, God, Jesus Christ, talented | 1 comment

He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers. Exodus 35:35

When we were young our play centered on success. Little girls played house and had tea parties in which the kids were good, the husbands loving and food was plentiful. They shopped for the nicest clothes and paid for them with play money, money they could play with again tomorrow.

Little boys were cops that always got their man, ball players that always made the winning hit or shot to bring the trophy home. They were the strongest and the best. They never got heart and if they did, they were better tomorrow. They worked at offices and drove the nicest cars and had the best homes and always seemed to have time for golf or fishing or time at home doing what they wanted.

If only real life were like that! Later in life reality sets in. Money isn’t as easy to get, clothes don’t fit they way they want, we miss the winning shot or strike out with two out and the bases loaded. The sense of failure, frustration and anger sets in, and soon we fight the feelings of uselessness.

Here’s a newsflash for you. This country wasn’t made great by the champions of the ball field. We didn’t become the people we were because of politicians or lawyers or professors holding court in the best universities.

The real movers and shakers that made this country great were the farmers who spent long hours tilling ground that may or may not produce a crop this year to reward them for their labors. Advances in technology and medical research came got their start because of kindergarten and elementary teachers that believed in the students they had. Leaders in all facets of life can trace their heritage to parents or parent figures who taught them that they could indeed be all they wanted to be and gave them the opportunities to grow.

God is a God of excellence. He doesn’t look to the strong and mighty to get the job done. He looks to the craftsmen, those skilled in gifts that he, himself gave them. He didn’t announce the birth of his son to priests, but to lowly shepherds. He didn’t choose a prominent metropolitan area for the King of Kings to be born in, but a small, unimportant hamlet. He didn’t choose a princess or a queen to carry the infant Messiah, but a poor, obscure peasant girl.

When it was time to build a place for almighty God to dwell, he chose simple willing, gifted people to prepare it. People like you and I who were created and empowered by the gifts that he molded us to have.

We are created by almighty God to do his work. We are gifted by God to glorify God, not to impress men. If God has gifted you to serve and placed you at a fast-food joint, serve to his glory. If he’s gifted you to clean and placed you in a hotel, make every room clean for his glory, not for the management’s sake.

1 Peter 4:10 tells us that, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” Where ever you are, whatever you are doing, you are gifted by God. Don’t let the world tell you otherwise!

PRAYER: Lord God, I thank you for who I am. I praise you for the way you have gifted me. Empower me by your Spirit to use the gifts you have given me to glorify you, not to impress men. Amen.

Hope for the New Year

January 1, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: God, grace, happy new year, Hope, Jesus Christ, Joy, looking ahead, Psalm 4:7 | Leave a comment

But you have made me very happy, happier than they are, even with all their grain and new wine. Psalm 4:7(NCV)

With 2012 now upon us many look back over the past year and reminisce about the highlights and the challenges; our victories and our failures; those things we can take pride in and those that bring shame and remorse; events and people that make us happy and those that still conjure up feelings of anger and hate.

Nearly all of us are looking to the horizon and wonder how the economic and political climate will affect our lives. Some are battling the pain of physical illness or relational distress.

So where is the ‘happy’ in ‘Happy New Year’? How much would you give today in order to assure yourself that 2012 will indeed be a ‘happy’ new year? No doubt you’d say, “Well, I’d give all I had for that assurance! But no one can promise that.”

To a certain point, of course, you would be correct. There are no guarantees in life. But because of the grace offered to us by Jesus Christ there are guarantees we can take to the bank, so to speak.

Psalm four is referred to as an evening song. It was a song that was often sung at the end of the day. A song that, in a sense would lead the singer to reflect back over the past day. He would reflect on the good and the bad events as well the joyful and the stressful ones.

Verse 7 is the climax of the song. The Psalmist comes to the conclusion that he is happier with what God has given him than anyone around him who is blessed with the most prosperous life.

How can he make such a statement? First of all he is reminded of the source of true joy and happiness. That source is God, through Jesus Christ. The prosperity of the world is empty and fleeting. But, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He isn’t changed by circumstances, political upheaval, natural disaster or physical adversity. He alone is the source of our happiness.

Secondly, the Psalmist reminds himself (and us) that the joy God gives is for today. He doesn’t say ‘You will’ or ‘You did in the past’. He states plainly, You ‘have’. Present tense. For today, not tomorrow or some point in the future.

Thirdly, and this may be the most important, the Psalmist reminds us of the location or the seat of our hope and joy. Again, contrary to human wisdom, we are reminded that true joy, happiness and hope comes from within. It’s in our hearts. You can take my home. You can take my health. You can take my career and my financial stability. But you can’t take what’s inside me.

Lastly, our hope and joy is superior to anything the world can offer either through ‘new religious experiences, political change or social action. Think of it! The best that the world can offer us is like scraps from the table of God. There is nothing on earth that compares to what God has given us through Jesus Christ.

The Grace, mercy and forgiveness we have through him is better than having all the latest toys, the biggest house on the block, the best grades or the corner office. All that is fleeting and temporal. But the hope we have will last for the new year and for all eternity.

The joy of the world can make us look happy, but the joy of the Lord affects the heart.

Thomas Watson once said, “There is as much difference between heavenly comforts and earthly, as between a banquet that is eaten, and one that is painted on the wall.”

PRAYER: Lord God, as we enter into this New Year there are rumblings on the political and economic fronts. We don’t know what natural disasters await us. Thank you for the hope we have in you through Jesus Christ. Empower me with your Spirit to live according that hope. Let me live in such a way that others will be encouraged along the way by the hope they see in me. Amen.

A New Years Wish

December 31, 2011 in Uncategorized | Tags: anxiety, faith, fear, God, grace, happy new year, Hope, Jesus Christ, John 14:27, new years celebrations, peace | Leave a comment

“I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 NCV

It will happen all across the world today. Some places will have seen it by the time you read this. In a variety of ways, places and circumstances, ‘the ball will drop’. As people watch it drop they will celebrate the dawn of a new year.

Some will use this as a new beginning. Old habits will be left behind forever (or temporarily at least), diets will be started (or restarted), resolutions will be pledged, prayer vigils for world peace, eradication of hunger, and a variety of other causes will be staged.

But in all the hysteria, in all the celebration, lurking in the corner of people’s minds will be the monster called fear. Oh, he may lay low for awhile, a day or two, just to make you think that things really will get better. But he’ll be back. He may come in the way of a terrorist attack or natural disaster for a world-wide effect. He may come more subtly too. You could lose your job this year or a loved one or…the inevitable, this could be the year others lose you.

I don’t mean to be some Debbie-downer and spoil your celebration today. I do really hope that each of you will have a happy, blessed and safe New Year. There is one way we can all assure ourselves of a happy New Year regardless of what goes on around us and that is to claim the promise Jesus gives us.

Jesus was well aware of what lay ahead for his disciples when he made this promise. He is well aware of what is in store for you this year too. When Jesus promises peace his promise isn’t for external peace, but for a peace deep inside our soul. It’s a peace that comes to us regardless of the external events of our lives.

So, while I sincerely wish all of you a Happy New Year, my real prayer for you is that you will have a Peaceful New Year grounded in the fact that Jesus Christ loves you, gave his live for you, and promises that no matter how bad things get in 2012, he knows what lies ahead and promises to walk with us along the rugged, painful and sometimes terrifying journey. Jesus is the only real source of peace you will ever find and ever need.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus you’ve heard all the prognostications for 2012. Better yet, you’ve been there and back. My prayer for this world is that we will find the peace you have promised by putting our trust in you. May each of us live a life of peace grounded in you so others will find the way to peace with you as well. Amen.

It’s All About You

December 30, 2011 in Uncategorized | Tags: forgiveness, God's passionate love, It's all about me, John 17:10, love, Moses, mount of transfigureation, the glory of Jesus Christ | 2 comments

All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And my glory is shown through them. John 17:10 (NCV)

From the beginning of time Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Messiah, the one who created the universe and all that is in it has had one goal in mind: to shine through you. His every thought, his every action has been directed towards making you shine! In Jesus eyes, it really IS all about you.

Imagine that! Think about how important that makes you. Think of all the other things Jesus could have been thinking about. Yet, as he was kneeling in the garden, just hours from being brutally executed for your sin so that you could be pardoned, his final thoughts were for you.

He doesn’t ask for a reprieve although he certainly could have had it. He doesn’t ask that everyone will remember all his wonderful miracles. He asks that the glory he and his father share would shine through you. Amazing.

What does that look like? What does it look like when his glory shines through you? For Moses it meant that his face shined so brightly and intensely that the people asked him to cover his face in their presence. He didn’t even realize his face was glowing but the people did.

For Jesus, on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:27-36) we are told that his face changed and his clothes began to shine. The experience for those looking on was so great they wanted to build shrines there so they could always come back and remember what they saw.

I don’t know what his glory shining through you might mean. It might mean you finally forgive yourself for the harm you’ve done to others. It might mean you forgive someone for the harm you’ve done them, for your sake, not theirs. It might mean you forgive God for not doing things the way you wanted him to.

His glory shining through you isn’t something you can do on your own, it’s something that naturally occurs when you’ve been with Jesus. His glory shining through you isn’t something you see when you look in the mirror, but it’s something others see when they serve you at the coffee shop, or meet you on the street or cut you off in traffic.

When Jesus came to earth over 2,000 years ago he came to show his glory through you through new life. When Jesus died and rose from the dead he came to show his glory through you in forgiveness. He didn’t come to glorify himself, or even the father. He came because it’s all about you.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I’m in awe today as I contemplate the meaning of this verse. I’m so thankful that you love me so much that you only think of me. I’m so burdened the weight of life, so worried about tomorrow. My thoughts center on what I can see, touch, feel and hear on earth. Help me to show your glory. May others know I’ve been with you by my actions, my words and my deeds. Amen.

The Will of Family or the Will of God?

December 29, 2011 in Uncategorized | Tags: Acts 1:14, following God's will, God, grace, Jesus Christ, Jesus' family, patience, spiritual family | Leave a comment

They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers. Acts 1:14 (NCV)

Deep down inside we’ve all wanted to be accepted by our families. Our play often revolved around doing things ‘like mommy did’ or ‘like daddy did’. There are things we’d pick up on and emulate that now, looking back, probably weren’t the things our parents would have wanted us to notice, much less practice.

There are times when our desire to seek family acceptance can be a positive thing, but other times when that desire can impede our own success and keep us from using our gifts the way God wants us to. Following the footsteps of parents or siblings may or may not be the best practice.

It would have been interesting to see the dynamics of Jesus’ family as he was growing up. History tells us that he was about 30 when he entered the ministry and only ministered for about three years before being brutally murdered. That means that most of his life was lived in the ‘family setting’.

While each of us wants the approval of our family, the reality is that sometimes we have to set aside ‘what the family wants’ for what God wants. Those are hard words as it’s sometimes a fine line between following God and rejecting family. Jesus knew the importance of setting aside the desires of his earthly father for the desires of his Heavenly Father.

In the same way, the ultimate goal for each of us is to do the will of our Heavenly Father. We are called to use our gifts, our finances and our time for his glory. Hopefully that means our decision to follow God will meet with the favor of our family, but there are no guarantees.

At one point in his ministry Jesus’ family comes to speak to him. It was a pivotal time of his ministry and he wasn’t about to be distracted by earthly things. He looked around him and said (my paraphrase) ‘Look around you. Do these people. These are my family. Those who do the will of my Heavenly Father are my family!’

Was Jesus advocating rejection of family? No, he was teaching a principle to follow. If doing the will of the Father contradicts the desires of my family, I must choose Christ. I must do it prayerfully. I must do it gently and with great patience, grace and love. I must do it without bitterness, anger or condemnation of my family. But I must follow Christ.

There is no indication that many, if any of Jesus’ family followed him in ministry. We catch glimpses of his mother Mary from time to time, but it wasn’t until after his death that we see his brothers mentioned in Scripture. One became a church leader inJerusalem. Others were missionaries. His patience with family eventually paid off.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, these are hard words for me. I’d never really given much thought to the family dynamics you were a part of. There are times when I want so much for my family to see my point of view in following you, yet they seem to turn a deaf ear to the truth. Help me to follow you and be graceful with my brothers and sisters who have yet to see the light of your love. Amen.