My Shadow Mission

         
             But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 

             In his book When The Game Is Over It All Goes Back In The Box, John Ortberg says, "Just as we all have a mission - a way of contributing to God's kingdom that we were designed and gifted for - we also have what might be called a shadow mission. My shadow mission is what I will do with my life if I drift on autopilot. It consists of the activities toward which I will gravitate if I allow my natural temptations and selfishness to take over. Everybody has a shadow mission."

             He goes on to give some examples. One is the rich fool in the Bible, whose shadow mission was to build bigger barns and lay up plenty of goods for the coming years. Another is Esther, whose shadow mission was to be "arm candy for the most powerful man on earth". What God had for her was much different - to save all of her people from slaughter. God's mission for us might not be to save an entire race from annihilation, but He has gifted all of us with different talents, strengths, and weaknesses to accomplish the mission He has prepared for us before we were even born. And it is probably not to go to work, come home, watch TV, surf the Internet and go to bed every day on autopilot. During this time of fasting and prayer, let's ask God to reveal to us what our real mission is and then let us listen and obey.

             "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live." Martin Luther King Jr.

             Lord, help me not to get so caught up in my shadow mission that I do not fulfill Your mission for me. Help me to know the difference and to set my priorities. Help my becoming more like Christ be the top priority of each new day. Lord, the most important mission You gave me is to carry the name of Jesus always, everywhere I go. My gifts and talents I lay at Your feet to use for Your glory; reveal to me how to best use them for You.

My Greatest Enemy

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

          For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:3-8

Fasting brings me face to face with my greatest enemy.  It forces me to deal with the root cause of most of my problems. I suspect that all of us, if we could be honest with ourselves, have the same problem. Self will.

I know what the Lord commands us to do as Christians; To love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). But sometimes, when I know I need to do something, the first thought in my mind is “I will do that when I finish what I want to do”.  There it is again, Self Will.  It isn’t always something I need to do for someone else; it can be something in my life that is not pleasing to God that I need to deal with. 

We need to realize we are in a spiritual battle.  Read II Peter 1:3-8 again and see that God has given us all the power to be successful in everything we are called to do.  We need to use what He has already given to us.

Thank You, Father, that your divine power has already given me everything I need for a godly life! Help me to grow in knowledge and see past my self will to do Your will. Help me to reflect on the things You desire to change in me, and help me to change.

      

Be Like Anna

Is it time for a new beginning?  As we reflected yesterday, we may have known Jesus for a long time and remained steadfast in our faith.  But there is, indeed, a difference between being steadfast and having joy in Christ. Has the excitement of your first encounter with Christ diminished? Let the testimony of Anna’s life fill you with renewed faith:

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.  She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.  Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2: 36-38

Father, Help me, like Anna, to celebrate Jesus with us, and inspire me to boldly introduce Him to everyone I know who is seeking.

First Love

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:1-7

                Maybe you were five, or maybe you were twenty-five, but, most people remember their first “love.” Maybe you remember the pounding of your heart when that special someone entered the room. Remember the shy glances, the smiles? So hard to forget.

Maybe you felt a passion for Christ when you first came to know Him. Were you aching to share with the world how He changed you, made you whole, redeemed you? But somehow, the pounding in the heart once felt for Christ may have lightened. The smiles may have faded as we have gone about the business of working hard at “doing right”. The glances, no, gazes into the Word, have now turned away to other things, maybe not things that are intrinsically wrong, but things which steal our time and attention from Him.

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Take this time to stop and reflect: Have you lost the love you first had for Him? Was there a time when joy of learning more about Christ overflowed?

            Lord Jesus, my sweet Redeemer, I turn my gaze back to You now! Fill me with the passion for Your Word I once had. I repent that I have let that passion fade. Let my heart long for You, and my deeds follow, and not the other way around. Jesus, be my Victory!

Listen, Plan, and Prepare

A man’s heart plans his ways, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:19

At the beginning of this New Year, we think about the year 2013; will we be any closer to God than in 2012? Only if we determine to live more in God’s will. Start some new habits; spend more time praying, listening to God and more time obeying. Start the New Year with prayer and fasting with a new determination to hear from God.

Start your day each morning with a time of listening to God’s voice, determining what he has planned for you to do today, and then doing it. There is no greater joy than serving the Lord. If there is no planning and no preparation there will be no progress.

Lord, teach me to listen for your voice. I need your guidance and direction for my life each day. You said, “If you love me you will obey me.” Help me to love you enough to make some real changes in my life.

“Lord, teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to Thee, 'Speak, for thy servant heareth.' Let me hear Thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of Thy Voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of Thy speaking Voice. Amen.” A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God

His Movement Toward Us

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Yesterday we considered whether the first sentence of our lives would be “in the beginning me” or “in the beginning God”. This choice directs the course of our lives. The question is, "How do I get to the place where my life paradigm is "in the beginning God?"

In the beginning God reminds us that the core issue is not our movement toward God, but His movement toward us. This first sentence of the Bible reminds us that God's initiative is the source and definition of everything, and when this becomes the first sentence of my life I realize that the core issue of life is not about what I do, but what He does. For example, 1 John 4:19 reminds is that "We love because He first loved us."

Which is why today we read John 1:1-3, 14. This passage makes it clear that the Word, Jesus, is the Eternal Creator God of Genesis 1:1. And He became flesh and dwelt among us. This is the initiating work of God that brings us into the family of God and re-orients our lives from "in the beginning me" to "in the beginning God" (1 Corinthians 5:17). When we receive Jesus, lean entirely upon Him to make us right with God, we become children of God (John 1:12). The start to becoming an "in the beginning God" person is a life defined by receiving and revolving around Jesus. His initiative—His incarnation—alone brings the God of Genesis 1:1 to us, and re-writes the first sentence of our lives.

Lord, Jesus was the only complete and perfect "in the beginning God" Person who ever lived. I am a believer in Jesus. Through His Spirit and His example I ask for help in following Him in this realigning of my life. Thank you for sending Jesus so I can know You and become the "in the beginning God" person you made me to be.

The First Sentence of Our Lives

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Genesis 1:1

            The first sentence of the Bible describes the beginning of all creation, and also describes a mindset, an orientation of life.  We typically choose one of two basic options for our life orientation.  These two postures become, in effect, the "first sentence of our lives."  These two options are either "in the beginning God" or "in the beginning me."

Do I live as if the first sentence of my life is "in the beginning me?"  If so, I will live as if it is my job to "make myself."  I make my own meaning, purpose, or worth by what I accomplish or become, or who I know. We go through evaluating people and circumstances with the question, "How does this benefit me?"

Or is the first sentence of my life "in the Beginning God?"  If this is the case, then I am not defined by what I do but by Who God is and what He does.  I then go through life asking not “What benefits me?” but by asking, "Does this glorify God?" 

The goal of Great Beginnings is to adopt this orientation toward life: "In the beginning God."  This must become the first sentence of our lives

Lord, my natural tendency is "in the beginning me."  I know that I will only change by the power of your Spirit and your Word. Please use this Great Beginnings time to change me into an "in the beginning God" person.