Perseverance: Part 1,why it matters

Perseverance: Part 1

I just read an article about Tiger Woods. A few weeks ago he was at the top of his game. He was the most sought after athlete in the world. Now because he did not persevere in his pursuit of his wife and purity, he is a broken man and has lost the respect of the world.

Proverbs 3:3-4 says, "Persevere in love and faithfulness. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and good reputation in the sight of God and man."

Praying for Tiger to go back to the faithfulness he started with. Praying someone who knows Jesus can influence him during this time of brokeness. Praying he and his wife will reconcile.

Perseverance in righteousness matters. May the Lord strength us all today to keep our convictions...especially when we're away from home.

An Ordinary Opportunity...in India!

Pramod was the luggage guy, hotel front counter assistant. Someone you'd meet at any hotel, anywhere. We've chosen to stay at the same hotel each time our team has been in Hyderabad...not just because the service is good, but because we are convinced that sharing Jesus' love means investing in relationships with people so they can see the difference Jesus makes is who you are, not the product you are selling. Pramod remembered us from the previous trip. Through friendships with various team members throughout the week and a lot of conversations in the lobby, elevator and rooms, Pramod was introduced to Jesus and when invited, came Cityfest. In fact, he had such a great time he found a way to come two out of three nights. By the end of the week he had given his life to Jesus Christ. He was given a leather-bond bible by someone on the team. He came to the Next Steps Meet a week after the festival and emailed me saying, "I attended the October 16th program and I am so happy I started a new life with Jesus. Thank you for suggesting all this to me for the first time!"
What continues to amaze me is how the Lord loves every single person
we meet! Pramod was already searching. We were sent to simply point the way!
We really didn't do a lot other than take the time to get to know him, his story, and share
with him our story. Then at the festival, he heard God's story and God's desire to save and
restore Him as a Child of God through Jesus. The Holy Spirit did all the work.
This wasn't the story with all those we met. In fact, most of the hotel staff we didn't notice much of an impact with. It gets a little discouraging when you don't see any progress. But we cling to Galatians 6:9, "Do not give up in doing good, for in due time you'll reap a harvest if you don't give up."
So what are you waiting for? Don't wait for the fruit, simply keep lovin, keep "making your rounds with the ordinary opportunities you get and trust God for the results...in His time. He's promised they will come! Maybe you'll be the sower while someone else reaps. I feel that's the case with most of the other hotel employees. But Pramod was our chance to get in on the harvest! Your time will come too! Count on it!

Every Moment Matters-even at Costco!

I've told some of you the story. But it's still turning in my head over and over again! I was at Costco looking to buy a mattress topper for my bed at home so my pregnant wife could be more comfortable. There among the mattresses I met Jesse. He too was looking. As we were talking my moment came...God spoke to me. Jesse told me that he was sleeping on an air mattress. I hate air mattresses because they almost always deflate during the middle of the night. So God urged me to offer Jesse my bed and then he would only have to get a topper. It was more expense for me to get a full bed, but what if Jesse comes to know God's love through it. Is that worth $200? Easy! Jesse then told me that his girlfriend could never sleep on someone else's bed. I commended him on his awareness of what his girlfriend likes and dislikes. I asked if they had ever thought about marriage. He said it freaked him out.

Then my second moment came...God spoke again! The Lord said, "BE HONEST!" So I told Jesse marriage freaked me out too and that without Jesus in my life there is no way I'd have the strength and love to give my wife that she deserves. There's no way I'd be the leader I need to be. He chuckled. I braced for the look of disgust I was expecting from someone who wasn't "into God." But to my surprise, Jesse said, "Wow, that's amazing! You're the 4th or 5th person who's mentioned God to me this week. I'm beginning to think that maybe God might be trying to get my attention."

My third moment of opportunity came...God told me to invite him to church. I agreed with Jesse and said maybe he should come to church with me and give God a chance to speak to him there. I encouraged him to make an effort to explore who God is with people who are really into Him.

A couple of weeks later Jesse finally came to church with me...on Easter! God spoke through the message of Easter...the day Christ-followers celebrate when Christ rose from the dead after being innocently crucified as a substitute for us who deserve to be punished for all the evil, death and hurt we've brought to this world and to God. Jesse that day came to realize God was after him and that's why Jesus came...to make a way for all of us to be made right with God and re-start the relationship we were created to have with our Creator. Jesse cried out to God and put his trust in Jesus to make him right with God and to change his evil heart into one that wants to please God and worship Him.

The effects were immediate. Jesse took me aside after church with an urgency in step. You won't believe what he told me! "Brad, I can't go on any longer without telling you...I lied to you at Costco the day we met! I don't have a girlfriend and I'm not even scared of marriage. I was just trying to cover up my Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder. I'm OCD and I still have a hard time admitting it to people." We started laughing together about the whole thing. God had used Jesse's lying to open the door for me to share the Good News with him.

Jesse and I are now good friends. We've spent time learning about the wonders of a God who pursues us even when we reject Him and fail to trust Him. I introduced Jesse to some friends who are doing a study in God's Word together and striving to help each other become more like Jesus. A few weeks ago Jesse asked me to baptize him. His mom and dad came. The pastor changed his message after hearing Jesse's story and gave the Good News message and an invitation to anyone there who wanted to have Christ change their lives as He did Jesse's. At least 9 people responded that morning!

So, the lesion I learned from all this...every moment matters! God wants me to be available whether I'm at Costco or at home or at church. He can use anything and everything...even someone's lies to reveal Himself. I'm asking Him to help me dedicate every moment to Him each day...cause He will use them if I offer them up to Him and I wouldn't want to miss out on what He is always doing...seeking & saving that which is lost....us! Luke 19:10 That starts with me spending time to listen to Him through His word each day. That continues with me meditating throughout the day on Scripture that I've memorized or clipped out and put in my pocket to look at. It continues with my daily prayer list and expectation that God is always working around me.

So, my prayer for you is...ask God to make you more aware that He is with you wherever you go and more willing to listen and even ask for His promptings. Then watch what amazing things He will do...in the mundane and ordinary!

What really makes us happy?

What really makes us happy, what really matters?

In Romans 8 it's refreshingly clear...to have the Spirit of Christ living in us, to be loved by God.

But do we believe this? Or have we not taken the time to examine what the death and resurrection of Christ has done for us? Romans 8 dives in and asks some hard questions.

Check this passage out: Romans 8:35-37

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ³⁶ (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”^n]">[n]) ³⁷ No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us."

Is this true? Are we able to feel loved when we loose our job? When we feel destitute (though most of us are far from destitute when compared to our brothers and sisters living across the world).

If someone has Christ, but lacks even food...is suffering, is hurting, but has the Spirit of Christ, then they have the love & glory of God in them and that is enough.

We (I), American Christians, have put so many requirements on happiness and meaning. We have said Christ alone, but practiced Christ plus....house, money, marriage, kids, success, health, respect of men, entertainment, leisure, excess, pleasures, outward attractiveness & apparel, etc.

In fact, that message promoted by so many, even preachers, is that God wants us happy above all else. Their definition of happiness like that described above...healthy, successful, having a lot of material possessions.

But here we see that life/happiness comes from walking in the Spirit. It comes from saying no to the flesh (vs 6). It comes from knowing that we are no longer slaves of sin, but children of God who can call Him abba(daddy) (vs 15-16)! It comes from sharing in His suffering so that we might share in His glory (vs 17). It comes from resting in the sufficiency of His presence with us through the Holy Spirit (vs. 23). It comes as we focus not on how we feel right now, but on the new bodies and closeness we'll have with Him when He delivers us from the death and decay of this world and we made new along with all creation (vs. 23)! It comes when we realize that He is watching our back and when we don't even know how to pray or deal with circumstances, He intercedes for us to turn things for our ultimate good... which is to become more like Him (vs. 26-29). It comes when we realize that for His glory, He will give us victory over all who are against us (vs 31). It comes when we realize how committed He is to us. If He gave His only son for us, how much more will He freely give us everything else we need to really live life to the fullest for His glory (vs. 32).

We are happiest when we no longer question His love for us though we are in trouble, calamity, persecuted, hungry, destitute, in danger, threatened and or slaughtered for His name sake. No, peace is not found in stuff, but in the reality of His love demonstrated by His gift of life through Jesus. Happiness is not a new home, but a new heart secured by His suffering. Happiness is not good health, but a new body secured for us by His crucifixion. Happiness is not the applause of men, but the delight of God in us because of Christ giving us His righteousness. Happiness is believing that He always wins. Believing that we are overwhelming victors because of the sufficiency of His love for us.

Happiness is snuggling up in the palm of His hand completely at rest because nothing can even come close to separating us from His love that is revealed and sealed by Christ Jesus our Lord (vs. 35-39)!

So dive into His promises to you in Romans 8 and be happy that you are so loved...no matter what happens here (even though He will work "the here and now" stuff out for our good too).

The Greatest Phenomenon...This might surprise you!

S.M. Lockridge could really preach it! I'm such a white boy! When I lived in New York I had the privilege of listening to guys like this a lot. Unfortunately out here in the westside of P-town there's not many brothers preach'n like this.

What's cool about this video is that it got me thinking about Jesus in a new way. Well, kind of an old-new way. I can remember the first few months of being born-again. It was like Jesus was walking right beside me. I was so aware of His presence. I was so unimpressed with myself and hung on every word I read in His love letter...the book of books. But now...many miles down the road, 2 1/2 kids, wife, non-profit, busy life...how often do I just sit and think about Him? How often do I just admire how incredible He is. He is! He is alive and working. He is alive and loving me. He is creating the future...if I will follow. He is tapping on my shoulder reminding me that He is still here! That He still knows everything, is everywhere, has much more in store for me than I can even imagine (Eph 3:20-21). He is! He is.... what comes to mind? Can you go off on Him like this video out of personal experience? Or do we just know what you've heard about Him from others? If I have forgotten and become silent of both words and joy from Him, who in my world is that much further removed from the author of life? Let's remember, let's discover, let's give in to Him and see where a renewed surrender to His presence takes us!

When He is recognized as being with us, being present, being our everything in the moment...windows up upwards to God, outwards to others and downward to those who are most in need around us....because we become aware of what He sees and knows that are impossible for us to know. We become an extension of Him. And that's when we start living life one hundredfold!

What are we living for anyways?

Mark 10:23-30- What are we living for?
"And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, Then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. Peter began to say to him, See, we have left everything and followed you. Jesus said, Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life."

Can you see Peter jabbing Jesus and says, "Hey, what about us? We've given up everything to follow you!" Jesus doesn't even let him say another word. He wanted them (us) to get this point. Eternity is so much bigger and better. Sacrifice for Jesus is so much more satisfying than what stuff or even the closest relationships can afford us. The only surprise as I read this is the phrase "with persecutions" woven into the hundredfold promise. Isn't this suppose to be about a hundredfold blessing? Evidently being persecuted for Jesus' sake is a blessing. A few verses later he seems to be telling James & John they would be privileged share in His baptism of suffering. I think the idea is that to drink His cup of suffering is to share in intimacy with Him. Loss of stuff and relationship with persecutions equal unimaginable gain both now and for eternity? It's almost unimaginable. It's off the charts to think this way. Religious leaders have almost always focused more on the material gains/blessings from God. But this is vintage Jesus! It's out of this world's logic. It can only be proven by those who follow.

It's like trying to tell someone who needs heart surgery how amazing it is to have your arteries cleaned or a pace-maker put in before they have had it. They can only know just how great it is after doing it. That's why so few really go for it. We want to taste it a little first. We want to stay in the crowd where it's safe. Where we can remain unchanged and unchallenged. But to step out and give it all up like the rich young ruler was challenged to do...wow! What if he had given up everything, given it to the poor and followed Jesus. What an amazing story. It's almost like Jesus doesn't tell us that story so that we don't compare ourselves and feel less important. The widow and her 2 mites tells us it's not the amount we give that matters, it's the percentage of what we have...only 100% counts. She gave all that she had to live on, which is the same whether you are rich or poor. All is still all. Having nothing but Jesus is still all you need. But you don't know that till you do it.

Lord, please help me to do it! Please help me to give it all and not hold back. My flesh is so tricky. It's so weak. In a moment I go from wanting to give it all away to wanting to keep it all and even get more! Show me how it looks practically to be 100% yours! Show me how to give it away day to day. It almost seems easier to give everything away at once. But giving it all to You each day...that takes Holy Spirit empowerment! I love You. I really love You. I owe everything to You. I truly have nothing. Without You it's like I"m in a nasty prison with an un-repayable debt to pay and no hope of getting out or being with my family and free ever again. Without You I'm separated from all that has meaning, surrounded by others who are in the same hopeless state and bitter. But that's not where I am now that I have You! Thank You so much for saving me completely and eternally! Make me willing to use my freedom to serve You with all that I am and have!