Delayed Gratification

I have been working with my sons Luke (9 years) and Logan (7 years) on the concept of delayed gratification.

It's an interesting subject. Wikipedia defines delayed gratification as, "the ability to wait in order to obtain something that one wants".

Researchers from Yale University have determined that there is a connection between delayed gratification and intelligence, concluding it has to do with a particular part of the brain, the anterior prefrontal cortex.

It is also related to age and maturity. Young children, for example, find it more difficult to delay gratification than older children. When kindergartners in one study were offered a choice between getting a small candy bar immediately or a larger one later, 72% chose the smaller candy bar.

The boys and I were picking wild blackberries (the fruit, not the phone) yesterday in our yard. Logan decided, on his own, to wait on picking some of the darker red ones until they are purple or black and tastier. A huge step for him, as he was competing with his older brother for who could pick the most.

I was very proud of him.

We could all learn from his example. Sacrificing the immediate on the altar of the preferred takes patience, smarts, and a certain amount of maturity.

Whether it's a relationship, a car, a house, blackberries, or a Blackberry (the phone), sometimes delaying the pursuit is the better option.

So if you want to be smart or mature (or at least look that way!), meditate on these:

^{Psalm 37
7} Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.

^{Ecclesiastes 7
8} The end of a thing is better than its beginning;
The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

^{Lamentations 3
26} It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the LORD.

Demonstrating a Renewed Life

Second of 2 parts.

Where yesterday's "Personal Renewal Imperative" spoke of a commitment to allowing God to change us, today's "Demonstrating a Renewed Life" deals with the responsibility of living a renewed life that is visible.

We must display realistic methods of personal renewal, which means our public life must communicate our personal commitment to renewal.

What is different about us?

Does our renewal only show through our words? Or do we actually do things differently?

A commitment to personal renewal will include living a disciplined life. Words like "Bible student", "servant", "prayerful", "loving","fasted", "celebrating", and "worshipful" should apply to us.

Do we value relationships more and things less? Do we read different books and watch different movies? Do we control our tongue? Do we spend our lives in pursuit of something that has greater value?

What would our calendar, checkbook or library communicate to someone who didn't know us?

These are the things that will not only bring change, but will demonstrate to others our commitment to a renewed life. When friends from work (or church!) ask us over, what if we answered (sincerely), "I'm sorry. I have plans". And those plans were to fellowship with God in the Word or to commit ourselves to prayer for a season - prayer for them!

Surely we can confess renewal - maybe even commit to it - but I believe the real power is in demonstrating how to be renewed in our living.

^{James 1:21} Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. ²⁵ But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

The Personal Renewal Imperative

First of 2 parts.

I've been pondering what we in the Body of Christ need to do better in order to make a bigger splash in the world.

Without a doubt we must tend to the bedrock-core-heart issues that Jesus talked about, like loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and loving your neighbor as your self. Jesus couldn't have been any more clear (Mark 12:29-31).

But I'm thinking about two other things. One I'll address today, the other tomorrow.

Today's imperative:

We must take the need for personal renewal seriously.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new". (2 Corinthians 5:17)

To choose God is to choose renewal, which means CHANGE is inevitable - He will seek to CHANGE you. You embrace it when you embrace Him. Your life after Christ MUST be different than your life before. He has made you new.

I know that the familiar habits of the old man are hard to break. Break them anyway. The attitudes and leanings and thought patterns stick to us like colors to a beachball, but cast them off!

This is do-able...you are in Christ!

Choose a habit or attitude that you have that you know is not meant to be part of the new man and eradicate it. Meditate on scripture that gives you the advantage, spend time in prayer over it, take intentional purposeful strides to correct it and watch the new man come forth!

Then move on to the next one.

This is precisely the type of activity that will change the world. People WANT to be better!

Show them how to be NEW!

Dear Distant Friends...

It seems that on a regular basis I have visitors to my blog from Canada and Israel.

I visited Canada once on an amazing visit with my family as a child, but I've never been to Israel.

Many of the other International visitors are from countries that I have visited recently on ministry trips and I know (pretty much) who is reading.

I'd love to hear how the Canada group and Israel visitors found me and what brings them back almost every day.

Could you comment to this post?

I won't publish your comment without permission, I'd just like to know.

In Him,

Mark

His Overture

God is calling us, I believe, to be the most alive and fully-awake people on the planet. People who pursue our dreams, born of a destiny that He shaped when we were in our mother’s womb.

No loving parent dreams of mediocrity for their child. Neither does God have that dream for you. The very miracle of birth is the fanfare at the beginning of an orchestral adventure that is intended to bring us to a greater knowledge of our Creator and of His plan for our lives. Along the way we encounter Him in all His love and glory and, in that crescendo, we awaken to the fact that the value of our own life has been determined by the price that He paid to buy it back! How could we be so selfish as to spend that life without an all-out pursuit of Him and His purpose for us?

What is in your heart to do? What did your Creator intend for you? Launch out. Go. Cast the net on the other side. Cross over. Lift up thine eyes. Write the book. Sing the song. Enroll. Buy the ticket. Live the composition He wrote for you.

Has God indeed said...?

My sense is that we, in the church, are educated beyond our obedience. And that restraint, though necessary, is not the missing ingredient.

What we need is guts.

The electronic PC culture has turned us into tame sycophants, observers, courtiers and attendants, rather than pioneers, pathfinders and persuaders.

From the beginning the God-given mandate was to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion..." (Genesis 1:28). Brute language that, in today’s culture, seems threatening and presumptive. We are however, for the most part, really nice folks who live decent lives, rather than bold victors with a mission to reclaim the Earth and its inhabitants under orders from our Creator-King.

In eating from the tree, we submitted to another entity who had no interest in seeing us fulfill that mandate. The serpent’s lie in the garden, in the form of a question, is the same lie today... “Has God indeed said…?" (Genesis 3:1).

The subsequent shame and disorientation caused us to cover ourselves, inhibiting our ability to be fruitful and to multiply. It rendered us useless in fulfilling the mandate established for us. Although we had been created in the very image of God, we submitted to a low-life being that lacked the reproductive power and potential of Our Creator. Spiritual vertigo set in and we spun until Jesus came into our lives.

It took the shameless, sinless Son of God and man to redeem us, restoring our glory and re-establishing our mandate, setting our feet upon the Solid Rock. “It is finished” (John 19:30) from the cross and “It is done” (Revelation 21:6) from the throne re-declared the intent of God and countered the question the enemy posed.

"Yes!", we may boldly declare, "God has indeed said".

His Power Saves You

From Romans 1, "... I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes..." .

I love that the Gospel is the only message we are commissioned to preach (Mark 16:15).

It strips away the religion and the science and the suggestion that God haphazardly saved us as an adjunct event to His Creativity or Sovereignty.

The Gospel is THE POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION. Front and center. Main event. Center ring.

Our redemption is head-and-shoulders above any happening anytime anywhere.

Our redemption means we have a right place in Him. Not a second-level membership, but a fully-redeemed place in the plans and purposes of the Creator of the universe.

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:10-11).

This is not ambiguous language. This is heavy stuff not meant to be misunderstood or watered down.

It means (among so many other things):
- we can know God,
- we can have a relationship with God,
- we are valuable to God,
- we have power and authority over our enemy,
- we have a purpose in the Divine Kingdom.

I hope that encourages you as much as it does me!

Have a POWER-FULL day!

Win-Win

In our hyper-competitive society it seems there is a leaning towards every-day transactions becoming a battle, or at least a contest, that will result in a winner and a loser.

I see it over parking spaces, cash register lines, rights-of-way, government, purchases and, perhaps most tragic of all, discussions between believers.

This most essential community fabric - the family of God - needs to be preserved in one piece.

The concept of win-win must be held high here.

Consensus can be prized, not at the expense of what is right, but at the expense of one's own selfish desires. And consensus can be reached in a God-honored setting that acknowledges the worth of each person in the transaction.

The disciples disputed over their own greatness and were rebuked by the Lord (Mark 9:33-37). Instead of hearing their argument He set a child in their midst, endorsing the least to deflate the notion of the great.

The expression, "When we lift one another up we make progress at the expense of no one", is nowhere more true than in the family of God.

Take the time to lay down your self, your opinion, your preference, in favor of the glorious God-favored family.

Until Monday

Taking a break with family.

New post on Monday.

Grace and Peace,

Mark

A Soft Answer

Every once in awhile I get the opportunity of really putting scripture to the test.

It seems the scripture that has given me ample opportunity is this beautiful verse from Proverbs 15 (today's daily bread).

"A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger" (verse 1).

At some times I've intentionally given "a soft answer" and, at other times I've unintentionally given "a harsh word". And I can state with full confidence that this verse is true.

I like the number of times that we see Jesus respond with a soft answer or, perhaps, with silence. What an example He is for us of the Word Incarnate!

He came to show us God and, in that, showed us who we can be.

Thank God for the example of Christ in showing us that we are more than mere men, and that as James says of the way we err with our tongue, "My brethren, these things ought not to be so" (James 3:10). If they "ought not to be so" it must be possible to speak as Jesus did!

Let's not give up on a soft answer.

I'd love to hear testimony of when this worked for you. Will you share with a comment?

Oxen are Messy. Get one anyway.

Around my house we like to say, "you gotta' break a few eggs to make an omelette".

Solomon says it much better in Proverbs 14, verse 4...

"Where no oxen are, the trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox."

The point is this: You can keep things nice and tidy if you want. You can lead a simple life and not make any waves. You can stay home, watch TV and eat bon-bons all day and probably not make any trouble for yourself. But the increase will not be of the desirable type.

Or, you can get an ox. Things are gonna' get a little messy, but you'll get some real work done.

I believe this speaks to our partnership with God in advancing the work of the Kingdom. The only commission we receive in all of scripture is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). You need to leave the sofa to do that.

That gets a little messy, but do it anyway.

Good Understanding

Proverbs Chapter 13 is the reading for today, and one verse in particular stood out for me.

"Good understanding gains favor,
But the way of the unfaithful is hard" (v. 15).

Good understanding implies not just natural, but spiritual understanding as well. And it gains favor in all aspects of the word - with God and man.

Jesus' wisdom and understanding was acknowledged, as was the link to favor...

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (Luke 2:52)

Where does this come from?

"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20).

Also, Psalm 111 gives us some instruction:

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever" (v. 10).

These two verses, in context, show us how important it is to have a relationship with Christ that permits His coming to us with understanding AND the importance of our fear of the Lord and obedience to His commands.

The second part of this Proverb ("But the way of the unfaithful is hard") gains clarity because we know how hard it is to live with bad understanding. It is the root of so many of the issues we have with God and man.

When we truly understand Who God is and what He desires of us, this understanding will increase our favor. When we are not faithful to know Him, fear Him and obey Him, we misunderstand His purposes for and in us, and our way is hard. We lose favor.

Grow in intimacy with the Lord. Fear and obey Him. And watch your favor grow.

Bite-sized and Nutrition-packed

This month we are in the Proverbs as our daily reading, tending to the chapter that corresponds to the date.

This has been an on-again off-again practice of mine for years and never fails to amaze me when I read something that applies to that day or encounter something for which a Proverb has already provided instruction.

This digest of applicable wisdom comes to us in a beautiful format. Parallelisms and comparisons that make our understanding fruitful.

I love the way a complex thought is reduced to just a line or two that is easily understood and easily transferred but, with meditation, unfolds into essential guidance for life.

We should learn to speak so succinctly and powerfully.

Today, for ME, it's...

"In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,
But he who restrains his lips is wise" (10:19).

Yowser. Chew on that.

Read through today's chapter (Proverbs 10) and see what it provides as YOUR bite-sized nutrition-packed portion.

Strength and Wisdom

David’s army at Hebron was growing in leaps in bounds as the tribes sent men of war “…to turn over the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD" (1 Chronicles 12:23).

Thousands of men described in terms such as, “armed with bows, using both the left hand and the right hand in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow”, “whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains”, “valiant”, “mighty men of valor, famous men”, “fit for war”, “loyal”, “expert in war”, “stouthearted men who could keep ranks”, “who could keep battle formation”, and “with shield and spear”.

I can picture these thousands – tens of thousands – gritty, scarred, and battle-ready men converging on Hebron to make David king. Zeal, angst, expectation - a hair-trigger powderkeg gathering of men looking for a reason to demonstrate their allegiance. Wound up tight like a spring and compressed into a geographic area not fit for their numbers or mettle.

What - or who - could tame such a gathering?

In the midst of this crowd we find, “…the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command…” (1 Chronicles 12:32).

These men were knowledgeable in interpreting the weather, the signs, the seasons, the political climate - and their understanding and experience with the interplay of these elements made them critical to David's cause. He would need both the bruteness of the warrior and the diplomacy of understanding men in order to secure the kingdom.

These elements are not exclusive, but complementary. And they live in us.

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12) and, "therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

To lay claim to what God has set before us we must be prepared to be both strong and wise. To honor God with these traits requires David-like devotion.

Winning or Losing?

At any one time it takes a substantial amount of insight - beyond what we are capable of applying with our natural mind - to evaluate whether we are "winning or losing".

We all encounter challenges. We can be sure that the storms will come (Luke 6:46-49).

I'm thinking of the life of Joseph. What if he had stopped in the pit or the prison to determine his potential? Certainly he would have concluded that his life meant nothing and that he was a failure. Instead, with the passage of time, he was able to say to his brothers, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Genesis 50:20).

Or Paul and Silas in prison - all that commitment and zeal for God's work ending in the sludge of the prison depths...but they worshipped their way out of a mess.

Paul was able to write, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Joseph, Paul, Silas, others - they chose God's perspective. Their conditions didn't limit their perspective. Their future wasn't dependent on their circumstance.

When venturing out in God, pursuing His face and His purposes for our lives, we may not know if we are "winning or losing" by evaluating at any one time using the world's perspective, but we do know this...

We can have peace and rest knowing that He - the Greater One - is with us. We can have peace in the midst of uncertainty. He sees the end from the beginning.