Secrets 2 - repost

I'm not sure when or from whom we learned this exercise, and it has become so much a part of our lives that it doesn't seem to be so intentional anymore as automatic.

That's ironic because the whole intent is to avoid the automatic, the status quo, the ordinary, and the mundane.

We call it "STOP. NOTICE. AND DECIDE."

We invoke this occasionally to make sure that our lives haven't found a rut. That we are actively and in a meaningful way pursuing the plan of God for our lives. I love the quote, "A rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out of it." It speaks for itself. We don't want to be "the walking dead".

So first, we STOP.
In the busy-ness, crowds, and noise of our culture we can forget to just take a break. A day or two, or maybe an afternoon or an hour together when we purposely unplug and clear out the cobwebs. We position ourselves to hear each other and to hear the voice of God through each other.

And then NOTICE.
We turn that break into something more than an escape. We turn it into an intentional and fearless review of what we are doing. Are we in God's plan? Is there eternal significance to what we are putting our hands to? Is it good for God? For people? For our family? For our community?

And then DECIDE.
This is where the rubber meets the road. What will we do with what we have just heard and noticed? This is the gutsy, full-on, step-up-to-the-plate part of living that makes it really living.

We've closed businesses, fed the homeless, started new ministry tracks, opened businesses, bought airline tickets, fostered the abused, enrolled in universities, sold houses, had children, retired, re-hired, bought houses, changed careers and a whole lot more out of these "STOP. NOTICE. AND DECIDE." moments.

I don't have specific scripture for this, but I can tell you that the fruit has been lasting. And the adventures with God have been thrilling, fostering a relationship with Him that is alive, relevant, and head-over-heels full of love.

His Work, His Glory, Our Hands

What a privilege to be called into His service! It is still remarkable to me that God uses us for His purposes.

"Let Your work appear to Your servants,
And Your glory to their children.
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands." (Psalm 90:16-17)

We are truly, as Dr. TL Osborn says, "partners with God in BIG KINGDOM BUSINESS".

But we must remember that it is His work, His glory, and our hands.

In our empowerment culture it seems that we can, at times, ask Him to put His hands to our work, instead of the opposite - as if we are owed His participation in what we are working on.

It is His work - and we participate with our hands. Then He establishes the work as His for His glory.

What are you believing Him for right now? Whose work is it?

Determination - A Time Trial

My family just started work on a really large puzzle. It's an old-fashioned grandfather clock that, when completed, will actually tell time. It has a built-in clock.

It's not an easy puzzle. The size (over 4 feet tall!), shape, and intricate patterns make it especially challenging.

In talking about whether or not we are up to the challenge, we spoke of it being a "hard" puzzle. But "hard" is no reason to quit anything. But this is "REALLY hard!"

At what point do we get to quit?

The writer of Hebrews:

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (12:1-2)

He goes on to say, "...you have not yet resisted to bloodshed." (12:4)

The references here have to do with our resisting sin, but the strength of the words is sobering.

This service to Christ is serious business.

We cannot quit. We cannot fall back. We cannot give in.

Serving Him is a great pleasure with joy unspeakable and rewards beyond anything that mere living can offer. We must remember this. No matter how "REALLY hard" it gets.

Self-Discipline 2

I've been working with my boys, Luke (10) and Logan (7), on Self-Control and Self-Discipline as part of a character development project we are doing together this summer.

One of their memory verses is Proverbs 25:28:

"Whoever has no rule over his own spirit
Is like a city broken down, without walls."

What a picture of someone lacking self-discipline. They just kinda' flow out everywhere with no real boundaries or sense of order.

And not only that, they are open to whatever influence comes their way. Every idea or thought or activity overruns them and redefines them.

I watched this evening as the tide rolled in and flattened a sand castle at the beach. Without solid walls, it was only a wave or two before the castle was lost, disappearing into the indistinct sands.

Our walls of Christ-inspired self-discipline are not restrictive and out-moded; they define us, hold us together, and serve to keep us from becoming less than we were made to be.

Self-Discipline

What does it mean to disciple one's self?

It is an interesting relationship.

Few people confess that they need to be brighter or more full of common sense, but there are very few who don't confess a need for greater self-discipline.

David really messed up with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 - 12:22). But what an example of self-discipline in how he dealt with Saul (1 Samuel 24 and 26)!

This shows us that, even in a man after God's own heart, self-discipline is an issue.

We should practice hearing God's voice in silence and solitude, training ourselves to hear Him clearly in a noisy crowd. But there is another strategy.

Demosthenes (a contemporary of Aristotle) is said to have practiced speaking with pebbles in his mouth and when out-of-breath from exercise in order to overcome his limitations as an orator. His desire alone wasn't enough. He had to discipline himself at a level higher than his desired goal in order to master his craft.

We can learn from this. In our silence, solitude, worship, study, meditation, prayer, and love we can also practice under conditions that are much more challenging than the ideal so that we can achieve our best for God.

We can discipline ourselves to be alone with God no matter what the size of the crowd, and quiet before Him no matter the noise.

In this we are being prepared to be disciplined by The Great Discipler.

Passion Points to Purpose

Joshua saw the Promised Land, but had to wait 40 years to enter. His passion for seeing Canaan again, and the purpose that God had for him, sustained his life and he was able to see his purpose fulfilled.

Pharaoh was passionate about restraining God's people. Most reasonable people would have given in a lot sooner when the plagues started rolling over the land. But God had made Pharaoh passionate about his purpose. Moses told him "But indeed for this purpose I (God) have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth" (Exodus 9:16).

What we are passionate about points to our purpose.

There is no doubt in my mind that God wants to use us, that He has established a purpose for each of us (Psalm 119:13-16; Ephesians 2:10). And He has wired our redeemed passions to point to our purpose.

What are you passionate about? Grow in it. Read. Study. Pray. And see the purpose unfold.

One Thing

The extraordinary men of our time are not men that we define by the myriad of things that they accomplish in mediocrity, but by the one or two things at which they excel. They find their One Thing and give their all for it.

We see it in our professional sports stars and Olympic athletes "whose bodily exercise will profit a little" (I Timothy 4:8a), but also in people like Mother Teresa, whose "godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come" (I Timothy 4:8b).

We learn from their lives that there is an art to doing the One Thing really well. We must become such men for the eternal cause of Christ. That is our One Thing.

There is a "treasure in a field" to be stumbled upon, but there is also "a pearl of great price" which must be sought after.

Seek the Lord for how you can pursue the One Thing. Then devote your life to pursuing it.

Psalm 27:4 "One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple."

Luke 10:42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 18:22 “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

John 9:25 "One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”


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