Be open

Dearly beloved,

I want to challenge you to be open. What do I mean by that?

What does it mean when something is closed?

  • When a business is closed the employees are unavailable to meet with you and help you or offer you anything
  • When a flower is closed its beauty is hidden away,
  • When a mind is closed it is resistant to learning new things or thinking about things in new ways.
  • When a heart is closed, it is hard, sometimes cold and often bitter because of past pain and offense.
  • When eyes are closed, people are unwilling or unable to see what is right before them.
  • When a spirit is closed, the Holy Spirit of God is grieved and unable to come and do His saving and sanctifying work within a person.

I want you to be open to God. Wide open to Him. May you be open to:

  • Receive His offer of help and reciprocate to Him that you are open to help Him and serve Him
  • See His beauty and discover the beauty that He places within each of His children
  • Learn from Him that which is right and true
  • Have God heal your broken heart and soften your heart that you may receive His love even as you give and receive love to and from others
  • See new things, new paths, new attitudes and behaviors that can be yours
  • Have His Holy Spirit live within you, calling the shots, guiding and directing your life and providing all that you need along the way.

Will you live your life wide open? Will you allow yourself to be fully open and available to God?

What can I say to convince you to go to church this week?

How can I convince you that you need to be in the house of the Lord this week? How can I convince you that what you are facing, struggling with, feeling weighed down by can all be addressed when you gather together with other people to draw near to God? 

Furthermore, what can I say that will help you to realize that it is vitally important to draw near to God and discover who He is and what His will is because He is the Sovereign Lord of the universe and everyone will have to stand before Him one day, so it is important that today we get to know Him and understand what He is saying and what He expects of people?

So often it seems that people say they know that God is important. But then they follow up that sentiment with a demonstration that God is not nearly that important because work, pleasure, food, entertainment, depression, conflict, struggle, drama, etc all get our time and attention before God does. We claim that we are God-fearers, but then trifle with Him and His Word, ignore His commands and quench His Spirit. At other times we do give Him a lot of attention but only because we are going through a hard time and we think “who do I know who can help get me out of this mess” and we decide that maybe we should knock on God’s door and see perhaps if He is real, if He is able and if He cares. 

Thankfully God does care. And He really thinks that you matter. And He is willing to give chance after chance and grace upon grace, even when we don’t deserve it. 

So back to my original question…

How can I convince you that you need to be in God’s house, in God’s Word and with God’s people? How can I compel you to seek the Lord, talk to Him, listen to Him, surrender to Him, give Him thanks and praise and worship?

And then I realize that God is in fact attempting to do this every single day. It seems terrible to say that God is “attempting” anything, because surely God cannot fail? Which means He is not “trying” He is just doing, right?! But then we understand that somehow God allows us to choose and so even though He is working every single day to convince and compel, even for God many times His efforts are spurned, His voice is ignored and His gifts are left unopened. 

So here I am reminded of a couple of things that the Bible says:

  1. The Holy Spirit is the One who “convicts” or “convinces” people. And He does it by reminding us of who Jesus is and what Jesus taught and by grabbing our attention (convicting us) regarding sin, righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit is using the Bible, the church, our conscience, and other tools to help us know what is right and what is wrong and what God’s will is. For me to try and convince you, I will have to be in agreement with the Holy Spirit and let Him do the talking and the working in and through me. I hope that I can indeed be a conduit of the Holy Spirit into your life.
  2. God’s love compels us. We are drawn to the Lord because of His faithful love. We are compelled to repent because of His kindness. And so I must remind you that God loves you deeply and that He has shown you tremendous kindness in spite of your sin, and hopefully because of His love and kindness you will turn away from your sin and turn fully toward God. 

It hurts to see people resisting the Lord and drawing near to the world and the devil. The Bible tells us to do the exact opposite (Resist the devil and he will flee from you, draw near to God and He will draw near to you). It makes me sad to think that pastors, teachers, evangelists and Christians who are faithful to the Lord will try to do all manner of things to convince others to go to church, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, have faith in, trust, follow and obey the Lord and yet the excuses that will be given in response…It is heartbreaking to consider how God is an after-thought. I will keep trying to convince you and I hope to do it with the Holy Spirit’s anointing and the love of God and the kindness of God flowing through me. But I also hope that you will hear the voice of God and heed His call before it is too late. Please respond without any further delay so that you will no longer needlessly suffer. 

What can I say to convince you to pray, read your Bible and go to church this week? 

Waiting on a miracle

Have you found yourself in desperate need of something to take place in your life that you had no control over?

Maybe a relationship that is strained or broken, maybe a physical need that is excruciating or life-threatening, perhaps a financial need that is unreachable, or even an emotional weight that hangs like a millstone of weight around your neck, crushing your soul.

What do you do, when you are waiting on a miracle?

Often times I try and figure out what I can do to hurry things along. Sometimes I try and determine what I have done that brought me to this difficult circumstance. At times I will try to ignore the problem, cover up my feelings or cope with the reality of being out of control.

Sometimes I choose wisely what I do when I am waiting, other times I do not.

What should we do while we are waiting?

Keep praying, keep trusting, keep reading God’s promises, keep surrendering the issue to Him, keep persevering.

I have often told my kids and other people that being patient is “waiting nicely.” I would add to that, that being patient is also trusting that someone will bring a perfect solution to the situation in due time.

Whatever you are waiting on God for, make sure that you truly are waiting on Him: pray, surrender, express your faith and trust, and give thanksgiving to God. Don’t try to figure it out, work it out or force something to happen. Give it to the One who is all-sufficient to bring it about. Anticipate and look for God’s miraculous answer. But while you are waiting, don’t lose hope, don’t take your eyes off of Jesus and fully trust that God’s answer will be more complete, more beautiful, more timely, more sufficient than you can even imagine.

And then rest in His arms, as you express to Him that you trust Him, His ways and His timing.

Would you join me in waiting patiently on a miracle?

Desperate

Have you ever been desperate for something?

I don’t just mean a strong desire but rather something that you would despair if you did not have it?

Sometimes, sadly, we think we are desperate for that new piece of technology or for that particular food/snack/drink, or that we are desperate to “get away.” But the truth of the matter is that we are (or ought to be) only really desperate for a few things

If the body doesn’t have air or food or water, that situation can come to a point of despair.

If a heart/soul doesn’t have love that can become despairing.

I would propose to you that there really are only two things we should be absolutely desperate for (more than a dying man in the desert who needs water):

  1. We need to be desperate for God. Of course He avails Himself to us, has taken the initiative to not only create us and give us a purpose, but also to provide for us, offer us salvation and take the first step so that we can know Him and know what He is offering to us. But we still need to recognize our desperate need for God. There is a God-shaped hole in all of us and until He fills it, everything else will continue to leave us empty.
  2. We need to be desperate for spiritual health/life/growth. It is not enough to know that God exists or even to begin a relationship with Him that we end up neglecting. We need to have growth. We desperately need to strive to be with Him, and learn to be like Him and to make every effort to avail ourselves to Him that He can fill us, flow through us and use us for His glory.

My life would be a life of despair, depression and emptiness if not for God. And furthermore, I can always tell when my spiritual life is stagnating because if I am not drawing closer to God, then the only alternative is that I am drifting from Him.

I want to challenge you that you don’t need to pine after so many empty and meaningless things in this life. If you pursue God and His kingdom and His righteousness above all else, He will surely take care of what you need. If you become hungry and thirsty for God and desperate to learn and grow spiritually, you will find that your life has greater meaning, greater fulfillment and greater hope than ever before.

I pray that you will discover what it is to be desperate for God and desperate to grow spiritually. There is nothing else like it.

You matter

Dear friend,

I want you to know you matter.

You matter to me.

You matter to God.

You matter to many more people than you know.

There are many who think about you regularly. There is God above who thinks about you constantly. You are valuable because God says you are. You are significant because of what God thinks about you and what He says about you.

And perhaps in the midst of this world you might not be able to hear clearly what God is saying about you. But I want to help you to listen, help you to believe, help you to live in what God declares…

  • God says that you are priceless. You are worth so much that God decided He would rather be betrayed, spat upon, whipped, and crucified than to live without you. You are so valuable to God that He used all of His power to rescue you so that you would be able to live with Him forever.
  • God says you are beautiful. When He finished creating you, He stood back and saw all that He made “was very good.” That’s not to say we don’t have imperfections. But God loves us regardless. Just like when we look at the face of our sleeping child or spouse and simply admire their beauty and treasure the fact that they are “ours” and we also belong to them, even so God cherishes you and looks upon your beauty and treasures you.
  • God says that you are His beloved. In fact this is not only the reality of His heart it is the expression of all of His speech and reflected in all of His attitudes and behavior. Beloved is what you are (loved) but also who you are (your identity). Everything else that we might try to use to describe, define or identify ourselves either pales in comparison or completely falls away when compared to the intimate love that God has for us.

Remember this, that because God says you are priceless and beautiful and that you are His beloved then He gives to you bountifully! He showers blessings on you. He works diligently to provide for you, protect you, defend you and redeem you. He provides for your sanctification and transformation into likeness and holiness. He secures your place in His family with His eternal loving kindness and attention, all you have to do is believe and walk in and according to what He says.

You face many battles from within and without. Feelings, thoughts, temptations, accusations, condemnation, oppression, trouble. But nothing in all creation is able to separate you from the love of God in Christ. His love will go through every barrier, tear down every stronghold, break through every wall of separation. There is nothing that will keep His love from getting to you. The question though is will you believe Him? Will you receive His love?

So remember today: You matter!

God has loved you, chosen you and called you since even before the world began.

You are the priceless and beautiful beloved of God! And whether you feel like it or whether you discount your significance in the eyes of God, it does not change the reality of what He feels for you and how He is working to save you to the uttermost.

Please, today, take time to pray this, state this, believe this and live this:

“I matter to God. I matter to others. God says I am priceless and beautiful. I am God’s beloved. God is working to supply everything I need for life and godliness. I only have to believe and obey. I can rest in this. I will follow you God! Thank you God!”

Bringing people to Jesus

Dear Pastor,

What kind of disciples are you making?

Do they look more and more like Jesus everyday? Or more and more like you? Or are they staying the same?

Of course, every single person gets to choose and so you are not responsible for their choices, but for those who do choose to follow you, heed your words and emulate your example, are they more like Christ because of it?

The world definitely doesn’t need more “clay jars” or “earthen vessels;” instead what the world needs is the all-surpassing greatness of the power of God that we are supposed to carry around in us and release to everyone we meet.

Something to think about: Is your discipleship more focused on programs, routine, experience, tradition, or Jesus? God of course uses so many different tools to shape and form people, but above all our discipleship efforts need to be Christocentric. Jesus needs to be in the middle of our conversations, our goals, our meetings, our ministries.

I will leave you with this:

As you make Christ the center of your life and ministry and He simply overflows out of you, because you are filled to the max with the Holy Spirit (and His fruits and His gifts), then you can be sure that whether or not the program grows or the church/ministries gets earthly accolades, God will get the glory and people will be changed! We know this for certain: when you connect people with Jesus, and they are surrendered to Him, He does His supernatural work and the results are eternally significant and extraordinarily profound!

Let us pray that we make Christlike disciples. Let us put Christ first, and front, and center. And then let us pray that God radically works among us!

Relying on God to make something of my life

Have you ever thought about the fact that without God’s touch on your life, all that you do will amount to nothing?

If you are anything like so many in this world, you may at first glance, disagree with this statement, thinking “I have accomplished many things” and “when I put my mind to something, I truly am able to do a lot!”

But Scripture reminds us that apart from God we can do nothing. The Bible also says that we have nothing that we have not received and that in fact, every good and perfect gift comes down from God. So anything that we do that is from God, for His glory and anointed by His blessing will accomplish things that matter and are eternally significant. On the other hand, anything that we “accomplish” (whether we get accolades for it or not) will not matter at all if it is not from God and for God.

So, whether you are stacking goods on shelves, or working in a manufacturing plant or brainstorming ideas in an office, none of it amounts to anything if it is not surrendered to God (for His glory and purposes) and if it is not derived of God (from His wisdom, His ways and His plans).

Think about it this way. At the end of your life, what things will really matter of all the things you will have done? What things really will hold any impact or significance for the rest of eternity? Only the things that God inspired, that God called you to, that God gifted you in, that you did for the sake of God’s name and for the eternal good of the humans you blessed/served along the way.

So, here is my question…

What are you making of your life? Are you building a life of temporary happiness, fleeting accolades and earthly possessions? Or are you hearing the voice of God calling you to live a life of love, serve others, share His gospel, invest in eternal things?

God wants to make something of your life, but you will have to give Him your life and let Him call the shots (and let Him determine what it looks like and what the outcome is). But if you will let Him, I can assure you that what God creates in you and does through you will be beautiful and eternally significant!

You can’t do it all, you can’t have it all (and that’s a really good thing)

Here is what God is teaching me these days.

You can’t have it all, you can’t do it all and that is in fact, a very good thing.

I have often lived by the expression “having my cake and eating it too.” Sometimes I said that life is not about either/or but about both/and.

And sometimes this is true. Sometimes people miss the blessing God has for them because they simply don’t wholeheartedly pursue the possibilities.

But, what God is teaching me right now is that I truly can’t do everything and that’s okay. It’s not only that I can “deal with” the sadness of “missing out” on something, but in fact my life can more fulfilling by not trying to do all the things. When there is a lack of margin, when there is a lack of downtime, when there is a lack of stillness and silence (and dare I say: boredom) our lives become so chaotic that we can’t even enjoy the good things that God has prepared for us.

God has created us to experience life, but we need to understand that to experience it as God intended and in a way that will be the most life-giving and the most rewarding, we will absolutely have to say “no” to many other things that simply will threaten and fight against the fullness of God’s plans.

It is not only something that we can say “I can learn to live without that” and it certainly isn’t “settling” but rather it is learning that the higher life that God is calling us to, at times, requires stillness, silence, lack, solitude, boredom, unfilled time and unfilled space.

Instead of “FOMO” (Fear of missing out) we can say, “in Christ and according to His plan, I am even now experiencing abundance by self-denial and by having and doing less.” Just as God turns so many other things upside down, even too in this, less is in fact more.

This is the day/moment that God has made. I will be present and rejoice in it! May we daily believe and declare: “There is joy and peace and goodness and blessing and hope available to me in this moment, in this situation, in this place, in this time.”

May we each learn to slow down, listen to God, be present, enjoy the moment, not worry about what we are missing but instead fully take in and experience what God has in front of us.

The simplicity of living the Christian life

There is a simplicity of living the Christian life that we often miss.

We think to ourselves: “I’m not doing enough/praying enough/reading my Bible enough/serving enough”

Then along the way we also put extra pressure on ourselves by focusing on anxious thoughts, saying yes to too many things, playing the comparison game or trying to seek the approval of others.

But truly, if we will just get up every morning and avail ourselves to God, listening to Him and seeking to live out holy love all day every day, we can trust the Lord to provide and direct us.

So, let’s keep it simple and repeat to ourselves daily:
– Trust God
– Love God
– Help others, live holy love, show kindness and point others to the Lord

I hope this helps us all to push back the chaos and move forward one step at a time!

A few ideas

Dear pastor,

Can I share just a few practical ideas to make ministry more joyful and fulfilling?

  1. Try to get together with another pastor each week for a meal or coffee. Pick their brain, listen to their stories, rejoice with their victories, weep with their struggles, pray together
  2. Spend 1 hour per week calling people, web-browsing or reading books, just to find ideas for ministry and advice for how to balance life, work, ministry, marriage, etc
  3. In many ways, try to do the “worst first.” We often tend to put off the things we loathe or are afraid of or feel incompetent in. And when we put it off, it very often doesn’t get done. So if we tackle that church conflict issue, or put together the bulletin board that we hate doing, or perhaps we clean our office first, hopefully we will gather some momentum and hope will increase throughout the day.
  4. Don’t leave the nurturing of your own soul or the preparation of the sermon until the very end. Seek God first and He will give you and reveal to you what is needed
  5. Finally, make sure to find the things that fill your bucket: the things that make you sense the nearness of God, the things that make your spouse/family feel your love and support. Make time for those things every week. When your ministry in the local church is over your own soul and your spouse and family will still remain and we don’t want to do anything to neglect them along the way.

What are your simple and practical pieces of advice for making ministry more joy-filled and fulfilling?