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For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
What are the marks of Spiritual power? For some it may be doing some great miracle or seeing the signs of the Holy Spirit being manifest. We admire those people who can stand up strong and oppose the false values and the lies of the enemy. We dream of being able to dump the whole dump truck of the Gospel on people, denouncing their sin, warning them of their eternal damnation and showing them, in no uncertain terms, that they are the devil’s tool!
Others may say that spiritual power is seen in ‘spiritual disciplines’ of prayer, Bible Study and living a holy, set-apart lifestyle. These are the prayer warriors and the scholars of our day. They spend hours and hours in study and prayer and draw insights from God’s Word that we marvel at.
Is one of these better than the other? Shall we strive for one above the other? In some ways they seem opposites. One (power) is openly visible and extrovert-ish. But power, taken to extremes, tears apart, destroys and loses its regard for human feelings and emotion.
The other (self-discipline) can be taken to the extreme and become withdrawn and loses touch with society. In its extreme it can lead to legalism and a judgmental spirit.
But Paul adds the perfect ingredient to bring power and discipline together: Love.
It is love that helps us to realize that God’s word is true and that His Son Jesus is the only way to peace and forgiveness while here on earth and eternal life with Him after we die.
It’s love that reminds us that we are His most special creation. We are made in His image for His glory so that we can reach out to those around us that are in pain and despair.
It’s the love of the Father that caused Him to send His Son, Jesus, to the Cross to take the penalty for my sin, to offer me forgiveness, and to give me the power of the Holy Spirit for daily living.
It’s love that helps me to be patient and gentle with those who continue to follow their own destructive ways. It keeps me from attacking them through constant reminders of their sin and drives me to my knees to pray that God will lead them to repentance.
Love. The perfect cement that binds the truth of God’s word and the power of His Spirit to show the world that Jesus is the answer to the pain that they bear.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I thank you today for the many blessings you have given me. I thank you that through your Holy Spirit I can be brave in my speaking out for you. I thank you for your Word that gives me the wisdom to see the lies of the enemy and the truth of Your word. I ask that you would help me to add the cement of love to my life so that I can reach out to my friends and neighbors and show them the unspeakable blessing of knowing Jesus. Amen.
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3
When we commit our plans to the Lord the Bible says that those plans will succeed. What a wonderful promise to look forward to! The reality is that for many of us the path we’ve journeyed along in life is strewn with the wreckage of failures, poor choices, ruined relationships and piles of debt. Not much success to be seen.
There are really only two options available for us. If our plans have met with failure then we have to conclude that either God isn’t able to fulfill His end of the bargain, or we failed to completely commit our plans to Him. There really isn’t a middle ground.
So, how can we insure success with our plans? First of all we need to think carefully about the word commit. Commit does not mean merely ‘running the idea past God’. It doesn’t carry the idea of telling your wife as you leave the house “By the way I’m stopping for a haircut on the way home today.” Commit carries with it a turning over the responsibility of our plans to someone else, in this case God.
A second aspect of commitment regards how our actions or plans match up to the plumb line of God’s character. The illustration of the plumb line, or plum bob, reminds us that while God loves us and has given us much freedom through Jesus Christ, there are some things that simply will not work in God’s Kingdom. If our plans and/or actions operate outside of these boundaries success as we know it can not happen.
Lastly, commitment of our plans to the Lord requires that we evaluate our definition of success. Success by the world’s standards usually involved numbers. The amount of money you gain from the action, the number of friends and/or other people you influence, the number of points you make. It’s all about numbers.
In God’s economy numbers don’t matter. Quality of character and relationships are the only thing that matter. If we took the time to look back amongst the wreckage of our past; if we pulled back the shattered dreams, looked underneath the broken relationships or pushed aside the pile of debt we would no doubt see the green shoots of new life. New life consisting of lessons learned, experience gained and wisdom acquired.
In God’s eyes that is success. Not that we won the race, but that we finished it. Not that we were looked on with respect by others but that we learned how to lean more fully on God. Not that our lives generated much wealth, fame and fortune, but that those who follow us will find the way to a living peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Giving your plans and actions over to God’s control is risky. But it is the only way in which we can be all that God wants us to be. As you grow in relationship with Him through prayer, bible study and fellowship you will find that your plans will align with His character and success will be measured by Him, not those around you.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I look behind me and the road I’ve travelled and see so many mistakes, so many poor choices, so many doubts, fears and times of rebellion. I’ve neglected truly committing those plans to you and they have caused pain to myself and those around me. Thank you for the painful lessons I’ve learned. Forgive me for arrogantly thinking I knew best. Empower me through your Holy Spirit to commit my ways to you in a real and practical way. Amen.
To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:26
History verifies that David’s son Solomon was not only the richest King in Israel’s history, but perhaps the richest King in the history of the world. There was nothing he wanted that he could not have. Money, fame, power, women, Solomon had it all.
Ironically, Solomon saw nothing good in his wealth. He saw wealth as more of a hindrance than a blessing. Rather than bringing him happiness and joy and contentment in his heart, he saw life as being a meaningless adventure tied to making more money and having more toys.
The book of Ecclesiastes is the story of Solomon’s heart. It tells the emotions of one who has lived, by the worlds standards, a rich, full, successful life, only to come to a point when all his labors and successes seem worthless. Why even try? You work hard. You get all you dream for (or thought you wanted) and there is still no happiness, no joy.
Solomon tells us in verse 26 what it takes to really find joy and happiness in life: God. He is the source of wisdom, knowledge and happiness. It isn’t money. It isn’t fame. It isn’t power. It isn’t being popular with friends, and especially the opposite sex! It’s about pleasing God.
To please someone you must know them well. The better you know a person the better you will know their likes and dislikes. You will know exactly how to surprise them creatively. The same is true with God. The better we get to know Him the more we will know what things He is pleased with and what displeases Him.
Beware though! There are plenty of people out there that will tell you ‘what God wants you to do’. There is pressure to follow the crowd, even in religious circles. Some of these pressures will keep you from being what you want to be; they will prevent you from practicing the skills, talents and abilities that God has given you; they will measure your success or failure by the size of your bank account, the way you dress, the activities you do.
God didn’t give us grace so we could follow the crowd. He gave us grace so we could be free to follow Him. To be free of the pressure to conform to social and religious pressure. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by a lifestyle that keeps you from being the unique, talented person God created you for. With His help, follow your dreams. Grow closer to Him so you can hear His voice of direction. You may not get rich in money, but you will be rich in joy and happiness!
PRAYER: Father God, There are so many voices in my life right now telling me what I’m doing wrong or what I’m doing right. I’m pulled in so many different directions that I feel like I’m being pulled apart. What I’m really supposed to do and be has become clouded by ‘human wisdom’. Please help me to listen to your voice and your voice only. Help me to remember that I can come directly to you to know your wisdom. I don’t need to rely on other people to learn how to be what you want me to be. Thank you for loving me. Amen.
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Lamentations 3:21-22 (NLT)
Jeremiah walked the streets of Jerusalem in agony. He saw homeless children who had become orphans due to war, now dying in the streets of starvation. He saw the elderly looking lost, confused and yearning for the days when they lived in prosperity, but now lived in hopelessness.
In the midst of the national horror, he’d experienced huge personal loss as well. He was verbally and physically abused by those he tried to help. He was all alone and in despair he cried out to God, but it seemed that even God Himself had turned a deaf ear to his pleas. Everything that he considered sacred and secure had either been destroyed or taken from him. He was alone, brokenhearted and saw no hope.
As Jeremiah looked around and took stock of what he was seeing, he was reminded of one thing that had remained constant throughout his ordeal; his faith in a God that loved him and had shown himself faithful in years past. It was the hope that he had in God that helped Jeremiah see that even in the direst of situations God still was in control.
Later, in chapter three he writes: “For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” (Vss. 31-33)
Hundreds of years later Jesus would teach us the same truth in the story of the Prodigal Son. As the young man sat hopelessly in a pile of pig slop with no money, no hope and no friends, he remembered his father. He remembered home. Pulling himself out of the slop he returned to the one place he knew there would be acceptance, love and compassion. The arms of his father.
So it is with us today.
No matter what you have done in your past to separate you from God, you can always come home.
No matter how much debt you have and how hopeless your financial state, you can always come home.
No matter what consequences of poor choices you carry with you, you can always come home.
No matter what relational turmoil you are in, even if it is a result of your actions, you can always come home.
No matter what abuse you have suffered emotionally, physically or spiritually, you can always come home.
No matter how long you have rejected His call in the past, you can always come home.
Your Heavenly Father longs to have a passionate love relationship with you. He is not concerned about your past. He is not worried about your future. He can help you with present struggles. When you see no light in the darkness; no hope in the midst of despair; no comfort in the midst of your pain. Jesus urges you to come home and rest in His loving arms.
PRAYER: Father God. I look at myself and the mess I’ve made of things and am embarrassed to have to come to you time and again for forgiveness. I am under attack by those who constantly attack me verbally, emotionally and physically and struggle to find ways to carry on. I contemplate the future and fear for myself, my children and my grandchildren. I ask today that you would empower me to rest in your arms of everlasting arms. I can’t do this without you. Amen.
One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Samuel 9:1 (NLT)
The story of David and Mephibosheth is a beautiful picture of God’s grace to us. There was nothing the Mephibosheth did to draw David to himself. David probably didn’t even know Jonathan had a son, which is why he asked if anyone from Saul’s household was still alive. Had he known Jonathan had children he would have asked about Jonathan’s family.
There was nothing noble about his gesture to a ‘cripple’ either. Today we applaud people who reach out to those who are handicapped but in David’s day those people were often ignored completely or left to beg on the side of the road. David reached out to a helpless person just as God in His grace has reached out to us.
David’s action was based on a covenant he made with Jonathan. Mephibosheth had nothing to do with the transaction. In the same way, our relationship with God is based solely on what Jesus did on the cross. We are weak, helpless, stubborn people who live in sin. Yet Jesus reached out to us on the cross based on the covenant God made with Abraham and we can approach God because of Jesus. We did nothing to deserve a relationship with God and we can do nothing to maintain it.
It was by grace that Mephibosheth was given the highest place in David’s kingdom. In the same way, those of us who are Christ-followers are given the highest place of honor in God’s kingdom. We don’t deserve the many blessings we receive from Him. Yet, in spite of our unworthiness, He has elevated us to the position of sonship.
Mephibosheth saw himself as nothing more than a cripple, a dead dog, even though he was a member of royalty. His self-image kept him in a mindset of worthlessness even though he continued to live in comfort. Even though he had given up on life, God reached out to him by sending David to him and bless him far beyond what he could have imagined.
God wants to do the same for you. Even though you may have made many poor decisions or ignored God all together He seeks you to have a meaningful relationship with you. Don’t allow your weaknesses to keep you from living a life of power and love. Never give up. Mephibosheth lived for years thinking that what he had was the best that could be. God showed him differently and he ended up living in a palace and treated like a king.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for the grace you have given to me. Grace I don’t deserve. Grace I didn’t seek out. I acknowledge to you that the blessings I have received have nothing to do with who I am or what I have done. Everything I am; everything I have is a result of your grace. Help me to leave the negative thoughts of who I am behind. Empower me to see me as you see me, a son/daughter worthy of all your riches. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 