Pictures Removed

I'm sorry to report that due to security precautions, I have had to remove any pictures of the girls or the buildings. Some pictures remain that weren't excluded for this reason. This is unfortunate, but the security of these girls is obviously most important.

-Will

India Team - Day 2 - Arrival in India!

Meet the mission team! When we got off the plane, our hosts greeted us all with elaborate real flower leis!

India Team - Day 1 - "Terminal E is for Exciiiited!"

The picture to the right features several thousand Indian Rupees (equivalent to about $150 US) and my passport: as of this evening, the international adventure has begun!
One of my teammates for the mission trip to India said “Terminal E is for…Exciiiited!”as we approached the airport. Soon, more of us were repeating it, for this is a very exciting day!
“The Heavens declare” God’s glory—this morning I saw a 360 degree sunrise as I drove to work, I beautiful and rare beginning to a great day. At the airport, it took a very long time to check bags as a group, and I started to feel uncomfortable about the nearness of our flight departure and the fact that we still weren’t through security. Well, not only were we treated favorably at the bag check, paying even less than we expected for the bags, but we got through security smoothly and walked up to the gate just as they started boarding—perfect! 24 Hours to India…

Healthy Aspiration - Abiding in What Can Only Be Given

From "My Utmost for His Highest," November 24:

DIRECTION OF ASPIRATION
"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters . . . so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God." Psalm 123:2

This verse is a description of entire reliance upon God. Just as the eyes of the servant are riveted on his master, so our eyes are up unto God and our knowledge of His countenance is gained (cf. Isaiah 53:1. R.V). Spiritual leakage begins when we cease to lift up our eyes unto Him. The leakage comes not so much through trouble on the outside as in the imagination; when we begin to say - "I expect I have been stretching myself a bit too much, standing on tiptoe and trying to look like God in stead of being an ordinary humble person." We have to realize that no effort can be too high.

For instance, you came to a crisis when you made a stand for God and had the witness of the Spirit that all was right, but the weeks have gone by, and the years maybe, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion - 'Well, after all, was I not a bit too pretentious? Was I not taking a stand a bit too high?' Your rational friends come and say - Don't be a fool, we knew when you talked about this spiritual awakening, that it was a passing impulse, you can't keep up the strain, God does not expect you to. And you say - Well, I suppose I was expecting too much. It sounds humble to say it, but it means that reliance on God has gone and reliance on worldly opinion has come in. The danger is lest no longer relying on God you ignore the lifting up of your eyes to Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden halt, will you realize how you have been losing out. Whenever there is a leakage, remedy it immediately. Recognize that something has been coming between you and God, and get it readjusted at once.

There is a subtle distinction in the writing above between striving to attain the Goal and seeing and knowing the Goal. If you read O.C.'s writing, you'll find a very strong emphasis against striving to achieve any great thing on our own or for ourselves (which is actually a Bible Truth--no doubt the Truth O.C. is trying to convey)--though it may seem so, he is not condoning this striving in the passage above. The above addresses the goal and the life of continual full reliance on God, producing an awareness of His presence that overflows in us to the point that others might notice and errantly say "it was a passing impulse." If we can keep this in mind as not a contradiction, but instead as clarity on the life of delighting in the Lord, desiring Him above all else and even being very aware of Him versus striving to attain any self-righteousness by our own efforts, then we can see this not as a contradiction but instead as a more detailed clarification. Jesus is the Way and the Destination. While united with Him, we do have the experience O.C. describes. Let us never give it up willingly in the name of false humility, knowing also that we could never gain it on our own apart from Him and He is available to all.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and..."

Psalm 37:7 - “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

What an amazing promise. What stellar truth. However, I feel that there may not be another verse so wonderful yet applied to our hearts so errantly.

When you read that verse, what are your immediate next thoughts? Search them and see.

If you are like me for the entirety of my life including immediately up to this moment, the principal joy and attraction of that verse is the second clause, “and He will give you the desires of your heart.” We have seriously missed the point…we have seriously missed the joy…we have seriously missed the attraction: God, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Delighting myself in Him is the delight. That sounds redundant and I wrote it purposefully as such in order to demonstrate its simple truth and expose how easily we miss what should be so obvious. If I delight myself in the Lord—delight!—what else matters? I am delighted in and of the Lord Himself, and nothing apart from Him. In that moment, all the desires of my heart are fulfilled, whether they are purely spiritual or actually realized in the physical world.

But when this verse is read, and when I have heard it all my life, it is given as hope for all the good things we desire or might desire. We realize that we do love the Lord at some capacity and are delighted in Him alone to some capacity, and we see the true promise that follows. That is actually fully good in my opinion—as the starting point of our thoughts—but it cannot be where our thoughts end. It could be the spark that ignites the flame, but God is the only fuel that will keep the flame burning. Who can keep warm via merely spark after spark? Only the flame that burns much hotter can satisfy that need for warmth in a world that is cold. Desiring the current things in our hearts as a result of delighting in the Lord is like desiring sparks instead of the flame—it is backwards and leaves us yearning for more. So the promise of good things that our hearts desire is the spark that turns us to the first part of this verse, delighting ourselves in the Lord.

Unfortunately, most of us take that verse into our worlds this day or week or year and start looking for all the desires of our hearts to come true. We keep a record, as if we had to prove that God is true to His promises. Firstly, if we think by keeping the knowledge of those desires and the status of their fulfillment or lack thereof is at all important, then we have kicked faith to the curb. If we had faith, we wouldn’t have to keep track, for God would do the good thing in His timing with no need of our record keeping. The fact is, such behavior displays doubt that the promise is true because God said it—instead, we are saying to some degree that it is only realized as true when we have seen it personally—where is our faith? But beyond that, we should have never let that second part of the verse so powerfully overshadow the real importance of the promise: the prerequisite that is also the fulfillment—delighting ourselves in the Lord.

I think we need to focus on the second half of that verse, the fulfillment of the “desires of your heart,” just long enough to recognize that a wonderful promise has been given by a Wonderful God and to recognize that He loves us that much and in that way. Upon the revelation of His love through this promise, we must then immediately shift all focus, desire, passion, and energy on the first half, delighting “yourself in the Lord.” That is the beginning and the end of it.

Too often we take it as the means to the end. That “if I delight in the Lord, I’ll get the desires of my heart.” I want to change our attitudes—yours and mine—to, “if I delight in the Lord, He is the desire of my heart.” Then we realize for whom that is true, He will not hold back the all-surpassing greatness of knowing Him, the overwhelming joy in His presence, the fullness of His love, the depth of His mercy and grace, the peace that surpasses all understanding. In that moment, whatever desires of our hearts that remain have been tested as true, and all other desires that are present have been newly given, better than all I previously held in my heart. And in that moment, all the goodness of Christ is availed within me, and all the desires of my heart—my now pure heart through Christ—are given freely and abundantly, to the extent that I cannot contain it alone and it flows forth from me into the lives of those around me who are also beginning to delight themselves in the Lord.

A note of encouragement here: if you feel so far removed from this attitude of abandonment, such that you have no practical vision of how you could ever be so dead to your current desires, and fully and only fulfilled by your relationship with God—know that I stand with you. I have stood with you my entire life, and this realization is only one step closer. Imagine someone who one day realizes that they must climb over and trek through a mountain range in order to get from their place of starvation and isolation to a wealthy village inhabited by their family that yearns for them to be present to share in their wealth. What lies before them is the choice of staying where they are, a certain and lonely death awaiting, or finding a way to assured life and loving community. But they must do what seems impossible—make the seemingly insurmountable journey, starting with almost nothing. They would feel like if they started on the side of wealth and provision, fully fed and fully equipped, that they could make the trip to the other side, but how can they hope to make it to prosperity if they have nothing to get them through the perilous journey?

The realization of where we need to be is quite different than starting out in that direction. This inspiration is only a realization and not a testament to arriving, nor even starting, except for maybe one single step. Ah, but I know something that I hope you also know. Our situation is not so bleak as the one described in the paragraph above. For we have One who is with us where we are, who will not leave us to find our way Home alone—for without Him our fears are well-founded—we would certainly not survive the journey, never making it to Paradise! Instead, there is One who has come down the mountain to meet us, to give us Nourishment to get us started, Provision to keep us going, and He is already there before we’ve even made this first tiny step: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). How much more will He be there once we have taken that first step?!

The One here is Jesus Christ. The Nourishment is the Holy Spirit and Word of God sent to sustain from within our very bodies. The Provision is the entirety of the Word of God through the Bible, as well as the Holy Spirit within us. All of this possible by the incomprehensible depth of love of our Father in Heaven, our Salvation through the bearing of our sin in Jesus Christ—tortured, killed, and resurrected to give us eternal life—and the companionship and advocate of the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us to the Father and affords us the presence of God right where we are and everywhere we go, for “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:20).

Even still, you may ask, “where do I begin?” First, above all else, is asking Jesus Christ to be your Savior, confessing your unworthiness as a true sinner, acknowledging Jesus as the Son of God. Soon you’ll come to realize that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, who took on human life, bearing the burden of sin, yet remaining perfect, who died a mortal death, but conquered it by rising from the dead, and He now reigns forever. Start simply by declaring your yearning for Him to save you, and He will instantly.

Next, what about the desires that are in your heart right now? What do I do with them, especially if I have no idea if they are good or need to be banished from my heart? Jesus speaks to you regarding this and the thoughts above in Matt 7.

Matt 7:7-11 - “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

If you ask, not knowing you are asking for a stone or a snake, he will be sure not to give you something so terrible, for He knows what you need and what you were really longing for in that request. And if you do ask for bread or a fish, then He will certainly give it to you or something even better. So we find that no matter what we ask, God knows the source of that desire, and is willing to go right to the foundation of it and give us that bread and fish. Along the way, we’ll begin to recognize exactly what we were truly asking for all along, most deeply to delight ourselves in Him.

Here is the rest of the this portion of Psalm 37 that I think paints an even fuller picture:

Psalm 37:4-24 – “Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The blameless spend their days under the LORD’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
Though the LORD’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be destroyed.
23 The LORD makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.”

Delight in these truths, for they are surely delightful! He will fulfill the desires of your heart. Delight yourself in the Lord. Amen.

Intercession --> Salvation --> Discipling

This is interesting. O.C. never fails to stretch me a bit.

From “My Utmost,” Nov. 7 –

“Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God's throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.

Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.”

Rom 8:26 -

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

Of course we do in fact engage in sincere, conscious prayer of intercession. We are called to do our part, to our “utmost.” That does not change by this realization and is not threatened by it. It is instead a comfort in the truth, and relief in the fact that the power is not of us, but of God Himself (2 Cor 4:7). We don’t stop praying consciously…in fact, we might be spurred onward to pray with all the more fervor, upon realizing this truth. It is freeing. Suddenly, prayer of intercession feels like less of an energy drain and more of tapping into the energy of the Holy Spirit.

Now, I am very encouraged by this, for I walk and work among many whom I see that do not know our Lord. It’s heartbreaking and you just don’t know how to reach them. But since we know the Holy Spirit resides within us, as we approach them, the Spirit is there with us, interceding "with groans that words cannot express,” praying perfectly for their salvation. We “go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19) because the movement of the Holy Spirit makes them willing to be discipled. As many have pointed out, we do not “go and save,” we "go and make disciples." Saving is Jesus’ work. We merely go…the Holy Spirit intercedes...Jesus saves...then we make disciples.

Disciples seek teaching and training and we are to be there to teach and train, whether by word or deed. This is only possible if God makes the way for us and prepares their hearts by the relentless pursuit from the Holy Spirit, a pursuit brought right to them by our presence in their lives. We go out into the world, but not of the world (John 17:14-16), because in doing so, we drive the vehicle that God has chosen to place the Holy Spirit within, and we outpour as vessels within whom God has chosen to pour his Spirit.

Rom 10:13-15a -

"for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?"

Again, I believe that we do physically teach and preach, but I also believe with this perspective, that Rom 10:13-15 could be applied to the moving of the Holy Spirit in those whom we see lost all around us. How can they hear the Spirit of the Lord if no one brings Him to them? How can we bring the Holy Spirit to them unless we are sent? Well, if you’re reading this, you have been sent. If you’ve been sent, you can have the confidence that the Holy Spirit goes with you and ahead of you. And if the Holy Spirit is with you and ahead of you, then He will intercede for all those whom you encounter. And if the Holy Spirit intercedes for them, they have the opportunity to receive Christ and have eternal life. When once they have accepted Christ, we are there to disciple them. Let us keep our eyes open for the opportunity, and until we see the “fields ripe for harvest” (John 4:35), let us plant, water, and cultivate daily as we walk amidst our lost loved ones—all whom we encounter—by living as Christ and carrying the Holy Spirit within us. Amen.

You and Me: Friends and Children with a Servant's Heart

Ever get stricken by the pride of man? You don’t have to admit it to me, but at least admit to yourself…at times in your life, when you’ve done something and seen that it was good, you have had at least a little pride in what you’ve shown yourself capable of doing. Perhaps this has even hit you when you spoke the Truth of God and led someone to recognize Christ and commit to Him. Praise the Lord! That’s awesome, and we should be filled with joy! But be on your guard in that situation…it’s only natural for a human to immediately feel so joyful, which is initially rooted in God and righteousness, but then to be tempted to feel like you did something good or great. We start out in life so eager to please men—our parents, our friends, our bosses. Think about childhood and adolescence and see if that isn’t true. It’s even true in adulthood for most. Somewhere along the line, we see Christ for who He is by His grace, and we set out to change whom we are eager to please. When we seek approval of men and obtain it, we are filled with pride—that is 100% true. As we change what we seek, we must break this cycle. If we seek God’s approval, when we see He has done something good through us, we will have the same response that we had with men—pride. Now there is a real irony: doing God’s work, resulting in the cancerous sin of pride! How terrible. So how do we break out of that mentality? Firstly, we are already approved, only by Jesus’ intercession to the Father. There is no approval beyond that…we are loved, plain and simple. You cannot be more loved than by the Love of God! And you have received the Love that is so consuming that there is no greater approval to be found. The rest of our lives, we do not gain approval—we simply respond to the amazing rebirth with gratitude and love that pours from Him into us until we overflow into others. At that point, when we stop seeking approval of our Heavenly Father as we seek approval of men, we might begin to slay the tenacious Pride of Man. Consider this truth from Jesus himself, in talking with the disciples:

Luke 17:7-10 - "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'"

“We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” This is for you and me as much as it was for the 12 disciples. I think we need to be reminded of this verse every time we see God do something for His Kingdom through us. He chose to do it through us and could have used anyone else…He chose us, we didn’t choose Him first.

Rom 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

1 John 4:10, 19 – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…We love because He first loved us.”

We did nothing but have our eyes opened and see God as He already is and see what He is to be doing in us, then we watched as He poured forth from us with our eyes wide. “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” Loved servants, for sure. Even friends of God, with whom He shares not just the 'what' but the 'why' of His work:

John 15:15-16 – “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”

That is absolutely amazing. I think as friends of Jesus, we can still approach with the same unwavering attitude: “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”

What a glorious duty. I think when we get to the point of humility and actually declare that truth, we are never more joyful. Many are going to hear that verse by itself and immediately say, “Who am I? I am so unworthy.” Me too. But the focus of unworthiness isn’t rooted in guilt, it is revelation of God’s incomprehensible righteousness, glory, power, and mercy. If not applied to the heart as intended, you may feel sorry for your unworthiness and forget that you are a child of God, not just a servant (Rom 8:14-17, John 1:12, 1 John 3:1-2, for starters). We can have the pure attitude of a servant while being treated as God’s very children. That is a joyful realization, I believe. We can err with an attitude that is not joyful, begrudgingly declaring ourselves as servants, as if to be a servant of God was a low and joyless position. Realize that a servant in Heaven is higher than the highest position on earth! However, if that suddenly makes being a servant more doable, then we are still stricken with pride and selfishness. We have missed the entire glory and grace of God! How could we then take on this attitude: “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty” if we seek the position through servitude, instead of serving God in gratitude?

So now that we realize that there is no guilt or dread in humbling ourselves to be servants, we can go right back to the conviction. We could have been tossed out like garbage, for before Christ’s blood, death, and resurrection, I was a garbage heap of a man, not fit for righteousness, and certainly not at all compatible with Heaven. But immediately upon receiving the Truth of Christ, God has made me righteous. God has given me the opportunity to give up my room in Hell, and take the position of a servant in Heaven. The same is true for you. We have not earned it. We can barely accept it, as it is so far beyond even the purest gifts of love possible from a mere human. So we say with joy, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty,” as we praise Him forever! Amen!

Radical Faith, Greatest Joy

Check out the "My Utmost" for Oct 23: http://www.myutmost.org/10/1023.html

Here is a quote that I find most powerful and deep reaching:

“How are we going to get the life that has no lust, no self-interest, no sensitiveness to pokes, the love that is not provoked, that thinketh no evil, that is always kind? The only way is by allowing not a bit of the old life to be left; but only simple perfect trust in God, such trust that we no longer want God's blessings, but only want Himself. Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him? When once we see God at work, we will never bother our heads about things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in Heaven Whom the world cannot see.”

Firstly, can you even imagine life so refined by God that you have no lust or no self-interest? No sensitiveness to “wrongs,” or unprovokable love? I can hardly fathom it. But we’re working our way there by God’s grace.

Secondly, would our faith be tested and revealed so strong as it currently seems or appears if all of God’s blessings were stripped away? All of them. For Job, all was taken but his life, yet he remained faithful. We seek blessing after blessing—at least I have for the longest time—but there is a major difference in seeking gifts vs. seeking the Giver. To think that we’d be content to have daily conversation with God, stripped of every human comfort and physical blessing. To think that quite literally, “My grace is sufficient for you,” and that was literally all we had to cling to (2 Cor 12:9). Few of us have ever truly been there, not to that extent, and honestly, I kind of hope not to be…yet, what a joy must be developed in someone who is led down that path, never forsaking God, continuing to have faith and be sustained by God Himself alone, supernaturally through the presence of His Holy Spirit within us. I don’t think you or I even know what that really means or looks like, for we are so far from it. It makes me consider the following: the man who does not know Jesus and is suffering--he is to be pitied. The man who stands solidly in Christ and is suffering--he is to be envied (in a righteous sense, such that we see his plight as good and desirable). That’s a radical change of thought, but I believe it is true. Understandably, many cannot accept it.

Let's ask ourselves this piercing question today: What would it take for me to trust God with absolute abandonment to the point that all I desire is His presence and grace and nothing else matters? Am I willing to pursue eternal life with Him that way, or am I resigned to always put a little bit of myself above all other things, including my all-powerful, perfectly loving God and Creator?

Tithing – More Than Just Money?

If you have grown up in the church or have spent a long period of time there, you likely know the concept of tithing. As a refresher and for those who are eager to learn greater depth of their faith in Jesus and the Almighty God of the Bible, tithing is a basic concept prescribed for followers of God in the Old Testament and is certainly pleasing to God to this day. You can look up Lev 27:30-34 (and many others) to find where God made this requirement of His people.

Moreover, check out Mal 3:8-10 –

“’Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

That is very cool, as it is the only place in the Bible that I know of where God actually says to test Him, and what a great promise that follows.

Historically, economies were much more largely based upon the barter and trade system and less on common currency, so many people tithed of their crops, farm animals, or items they made and sold. Today, we mostly tithe of our incomes. In either case, we tithe of our wealth, whether it be money earned or possessions that constitute our means of survival and provision for ourselves and our families. It puts God first and us second, which is only natural, and is an expression of well-placed gratitude. Ask those who tithe and they can attest to the promise of Mal 3:10 being true.

The other day I got hit with another inconvenient conviction: what if we tithed not just of our money, but of our time? Immediately, I felt that familiar inner conflict, and as I did the math, I quickly decided that it might be too tough to consistently uphold such a commitment. But God wouldn’t let it go, so I am bringing this inconvenient conviction to you: what if you and I decided to tithe of our time for our Lord?

Here’s what it might look like: I’m going to throw out sleep and assume the average night’s sleep of 7 hours (individuals may vary). A week has 168 hours, less the 49 hours of average sleep, leaving 119 hours of work time, plus free time, plus all the other time we are awake. What if we tithed of that 119 hours each week? What if we spent 12 hours dedicated to our all-powerful Provider and all-loving Savior? After all, even 10% seems like a meager offering to a God who is to be my everything, to whom I am to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). In fact, I’m getting convicted again that for most of us that call ourselves Christians, we spend only 1-2% of our weeks in time dedicated to God (1.5 hour church service only). Then we wonder why we have a hard time hearing him and why we feel distant at times and why we struggle with sin in the world around us. If only 2% of ourself is dedicated to God, then what is the other 98% dedicated to?

Now, if 12 hours of real, solid, genuine time dedicated to God each week sounds hard, I understand. You are not alone, for I have been a 2 percent-er for much of my life. So let’s examine a strategy together. Firstly, if you go to church each week, that is probably about 1.5 hours. If you attend a small group, that’s probably another 2 hours. So in that case, we’re already up to 3.5 hours and almost a third of the way there in our normal routine! That’s encouraging. So how do we get to 10%? I propose doing it in small steps. I want to challenge you: this week, commit to 5% of your time dedicated to God. This might be service opportunities, personal prayer time or Bible study, church related activities, or anything else that you can in good conscience offer to the Lord with a pure heart as your time set aside for Him. Each week, add another percent or another hour, working your way to 10%. Once there, it might look like this: 1.5 hours for church, 2 hours for small group, 1 hour each week day in dedicated prayer time or Bible study, and 3.5 hours of time on your weekends for serving or more prayer and Bible study or whatever God leads you to do (when you start seeking things, you’ll find them popping up at or beyond your full capacity to participate in them). Find your own plan that works for you, understanding that some flexibility from week to week will be necessary. I also encourage you to find 1 or 2 “accountability partners,” among whom you can each report, not only to stay the course but also to share the joy of the experience.

Before we dive in, let’s be careful to get something straight. This plan in no way makes you more loved or more “right with God” in and of itself. Do not let the desire to complete the goal get in the way of the purpose behind it: seeing Jesus. Seeing Jesus more personally and meaningfully each day is the desired outcome. Some will be too burdened by this challenge for it to be beneficial. That’s ok. This is certainly not a requirement of God’s. However, it is an opportunity as much as it is a challenge. It is true that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20-22), for true faith is belief that results in action. However, the converse is also true—action with a “quid pro quo,” or “this for that,” attitude is faithless, concerning the salvation of Jesus Christ, in whom belief leads to everlasting life and cannot be earned by any number of good works in themselves (I would cite verses, but this is basically the entire New Testament.).

And I know something that will happen to you as you approach this challenge in sincerity and with eyes fixed upon Jesus. Firstly, you will have weeks where you fail to reach your goal. Don’t worry, just get right back up and try for the next week. Secondly, at first this will be hard. It will at times feel like pure joy in discovering God in ways you didn’t know before, but it will at times also feel like strict obedience that you have a very difficult time upholding. Here’s the great part: at some point down the road, if you stay consistent and sincere, it will begin to feel less and less like a burden, and more and more like your highest priority in each week. The experience with God and closeness through time spent with Him and for Him is rivaled by nothing else in this world. You will begin to miss it when you have a busy week and can’t get the time, and you will begin to cherish the weeks where you spend the most time with Him, forgetting that it was ever a burden in the beginning.

So don’t be discouraged as you set out on this journey. I encourage you to start small and stay small, such that your commitment matches your sincerity and practical ability to meet the goal. Also, I encourage you to push just slightly past your comfort zone. If you say, “I already do 8 hours each week and could do 9,” go for 9.5 hours. If you’re currently at 1.5 hours each week with no confidence in any additional time, take just 30 additional minutes one day of the week for starters. Ultimately, your hour log doesn’t matter, and unless you are a statistics lover or find organization in writing such things down, I would suggest not even writing down your time. Keep it in your head one week at a time, not keeping a record of past weeks, and try not to be any more legalistic than matches your genuine sincerity, which is the desire to know God. Do not do this in order to meet requirements that make you feel good and as though you’ve gained favor through things you’ve done. Do it not to gain favor, but to draw near to the Lord. If this is your simple motivation, it will be your simple, yet incomprehensibly powerful and joyful outcome.

The overarching point is that we can each spend more time with God. Use your commute to work to talk everything out with Him. It may feel like you’re doing all the talking for a while—that’s ok, start there. In time, you’ll begin to learn how to listen. I think every morning when you wake up, God looks expectantly at you, eagerly awaiting your conversation. Do you even acknowledge Him as you “pass by?” Do you sort of nod or give a muffled “hello?” Do you stop and have a brief conversation, showing obviously by your posture that you’re busy and should be on your way and cannot spend time on Him? Do you perhaps actually sit down to have a meaningful conversation, knowing that He cares about your every care and is listening? Do you ever ask Him what’s bothering Him or giving Him joy and listen to His heart? Perhaps wherever we are on this spectrum, we should each desire to move to the next level tomorrow morning. Then in no time move to the next level. Or if you’re very convicted, sit down with Him right now, as with a best friend or dearest loved one. Just be yourself—He already knows and loves you. See if you can hear Him in those moments, or in reading the Word, or in those you encounter around you as you come to know His heart. Speak it back to Him for concurrence. I think you’ll find an amazing new friend, an amazing providing Father, and an amazing life-changing Savior who is “with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).

More ideas: if you find singing, or writing, or creating or any other gift an effective outlet of your worship, do those things in your 10% time offering to Him. Write Him a note, a letter, or a song. Sing to Him your favorite hymn or just make up your own words and tune, if you are so musically talented. Draw pictures of how you see Him and His relationship to you and those around you. Make something with your hands that is beautiful, if you are gifted by Him to do so, and give it to Him as an offering, perhaps as a gift to another friend or a stranger. I don’t know how you might worship and love Him, but I know He has gifted us each in specific ways and would be touched in His heart to receive such genuine gifts of our hearts and talents poured out back to Him.

Think of the child who has been given Christmas money by their parents. This child goes out and spends 90% of it on him or herself, but they take 10% and buy something heart-felt and meaningful for their parents out of love and appreciation. Would that parent’s heart not about melt in love? Or perhaps a mother taught her child how to paint, and the child immediately paints a picture of the two of them holding hands with a heart between them. How great that mother must feel. Or the father who shows his son how to fish at a young age, then when the son grows old, he begins to take his father fishing. That father will cherish a moment like that forever. When we turn back around the gifts of our parents, they are overjoyed…not by the gift, but by the sincere loving heart of their child.

Wouldn’t you love to make God feel that way today with even the smallest of gifts from your heart?

Growing Faith - One Summer and Winter at a Time

As I grow older and somewhat more mature, I am finding that great faith takes time. However short or long, it certainly takes real experience with God. Faith is something I’ve always been taught is essential, yet it was somewhat hard to grasp. The thing about faith is that it only makes so much sense until you have it—you can’t conceptualize real faith beyond your own until you have somehow grown to that extent of faith. Developed faith has a confidence with it, and though we observe others faith that is deeper than ours and we can imagine what it might be like, we do not carry confidence of true faith in our imagining—we simply don’t comprehend it yet.

After the disciples displayed a need for more faith, asking Jesus why they couldn’t drive out a demon:

Matt 17:20 – “He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."”

The faith of a mustard seed doesn’t understand the faith of the tree with mighty branches—not until it grows into such a tree of faith. The growing takes time, nurturing, and feeding. So how do we grow, feed, and nurture our faith? Well we don’t—if we could choose in the moment, we as little mustard seeds of faith would never choose the terrible things a tree can withstand and we have no vision of withstanding. But we do have an important first step.

Jesus in John 12:24-25: “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

We must die. Our first death is to sin and living for ourselves in the world, but then we must die to our fears and exasperations of the next storm, in addition to our expectations and conceptions of how we could be used by God and be most pleasing in His sight. We must let God do the choosing, and our choice is simply to die to self.

Colossians 3:2-3 - “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

When we do this, we have exercised the faith of a mustard seed at first planting, but we will not become mighty trees overnight. God may do a great thing through us, but we likely did it less by faith and more by God’s direct intervention and “proving” His presence in the situation, for He knows the current limits of our faith. Gideon put out the fleece, just as we do so often…yet God did show himself in the fleece, as needed by Gideon’s less than full faith at the time. God is good--even in those times, we see Jesus and our faith is grown—but let’s desire to put out a few less fleeces as we grow (After all, how much more amazing when we haven’t asked for the fleece, yet God showed up with one for us!).

We first break through the soil into the atmosphere, not much more than a seed. But our faith is growing, and in ways that we could not understand as an unplanted seed; still, we desire the growth into the trees of faith we’ve encountered in the Bible or in person. But how do we get there? We might pray, “Lord, please give me the faith.” He certainly will—that is a prayer that will be answered in affirmation, but not in the way we first thought. We thought that God would impart in us an instant faith like an instant healing. Let me say that perhaps there have been individuals who have such an experience with faith, but that is extremely rare. For the vast majority, including me and likely you, this faith will have to be imparted one struggle at a time, one summer of obvious growth and winter of less obvious growth at time. And as saplings we can’t conceive of it, but one day we’ll recognize the growth that God has been cultivating, and we’ll love Him even more for it, as we glimpse a little more clearly who He is, perfect and welcoming, wonderful and sovereign, powerful and loving—and our faith will continue to grow and flourish.

If just now you desired faith, you have a great seed of Christ planted in you. If you have been frustrated with your lack of faith, you are a little sprout or sapling or anything short of the fully developed tree, yet with such potential (Let’s face it, we reach absolute full development in Heaven). Allow your faith to be exercised. It will feel like winter, it will feel like summer, but all the while you’ll be growing. We have to accept our pace.

Isaiah 40:31 – “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Sometimes we are accelerated to God in faith, soaring “on wings like eagles,” yet other times we must plod along and “walk and not be faint.” The desire is ours to display before God—the willingness and simple obedience-the growing is His. Paul in 1 Cor 3:6-7:

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”

May your faith grow abundantly in the next season and the seasons that follow. I pray that you are encouraged to “fight the good fight” with patient endurance for your faith to come, “fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”

Heb 12:1-3 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Amen.

Pray It Through - “Lord, I’m asking again…”

Heb 4:15-16 – “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Have you ever hesitated in God’s presence? Have you ever prayed, confessing your struggles and concerns, but then stopped short of full disclosure? I have.

There are a lot of good reasons that you and I share this experience. I say “good” to mean compelling or logical reasons in the human sense, yet in the end, there is no truly good reason, for we became spiritually deprived in that moment. Deprived of the full power, love, and grace of our beautiful God.

Guilt first keeps us from confessing our every sin and struggle and worry. Just look at the first human encounter of sin in the Garden of Eden to see the “natural” human response to the awareness of sin in God’s presence: “They…hid themselves” (Gen 3:8). They physically hid because of such shame. This feeling of shame or guilt is good in that it demonstrates that we have the righteous wherewithal to recognize sin as sin. Furthermore, Jesus says in Matt 5:4 that “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Have you ever mourned your sin? The healthy outlet for the guilt of sin is spiritual mourning of the separation from God, which is sin, followed by Jesus’ promise of comfort. What a great and gracious outcome!

But going further, I have found myself hesitating in God’s presence when sin isn’t even in question. This is when I am self-conscious of repeatedly asking for the same thing. For you or I, this could be asking for something that we desire in life, or when we have been continuously fighting to overcome temptation, or just keeping our eyes fixed upon Jesus (Heb 12:2), yet we have failed to do so again.

These hesitations can be uniquely different because they are not necessarily sin related, but rather, our hesitation comes from having to once again ask for help. My thoughts are that I should have made more progress by now, but I feel like we’re right back at square one and therefore God must be…disappointed. And I don’t want to disappoint Him. In those moments I want to man up, gear up, armor up, suit up, just get up and conquer those things in God’s name. And I’ve already asked for help like 1000 times. I feel like I need to come back to Him with some progress instead of saying, “Lord I still need your help, I’m struggling…yet again.” You may identify with my sentiment. In fact, these thoughts make a lot of sense, concerning our interaction with those from which we ask for help on earth. How many times could you ask your teacher, professor, or mentor to show you how to do something before they would think you were just un-teachable? How many times could you ask your closest family member for forgiveness for the same wrong-doing before they may think that “you’ll never change?” How many times could you go back to your boss for a project review with no progress, asking again for help to start out on the first steps? In each case, not many times…certainly not as many times as I’ve had to approach God with those exact same requests. We see God as our Teacher, our Mentor, our Father, and even our “Boss,” and we apply what we know about humans in these roles to our perfect God. This of course leads us astray, for we have tried to build a Creator out of the creation. Realizing this, we can more easily understand why this approach is wrong, but we must then apply it to our prayer conversations with Him.

You see, inside, I desire to come back to God with a finished me. I desire to bring before Him a perfect me. I desire to submit myself to Him, a pleasing sacrifice, unblemished and pure. The problem is that of course, I cannot. In fact, I can only become those things by first coming to Him and confessing all my spiritual blemishes, impurities, and imperfections. That includes sin, yes, but it also includes the life-long pursuit of righteousness and purging of selfishness, which does indeed take an entire lifetime—and even an entire lifetime by itself is terribly insufficient because in Christ alone are we made perfect. But we are made perfect indeed (Eph 4:13; Col 1:22, 28). It is why we can come “boldly before His throne” (Heb 4:16). We come humbly, yet confidently before the throne of God and are made pure and perfect by Christ, who is “seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). What an amazing instantaneous turnaround.

So what have you been praying to God over and over and over? Don’t stop. Pray it through to completion. Have you not only failed to make progress but even regressed in an area? Then we need Him even more than ever…and He already knows. Until you seek His strength and mercy, you will have neither. But instantly upon seeking Him, you will have both abundantly. Simply seek and find. Ask and receive. Knock and the door will be opened. (Matt 7:7-8, Luke 11:9-10) Have you knocked, entered, then somehow found yourself outside again? Knock again and the door will be opened again. The more honestly and transparently we come, splaying out all that is within our souls to God, the more immediately and gloriously His power of transformation can be realized in you and me. Hold nothing back.

If you’ve had the thought, “well, then it doesn’t matter what I do today, he’ll open the door again,” then you have taken this seriously the wrong way. At that moment, you are only going through the motions of knocking. Let me ask you this: if you show up at my home and hold your hand up in the motion of knocking, never actually knocking in sincerity, never making contact with the door, will I hear you? No, of course I will not, and will therefore not acknowledge you nor let you in. Be careful of “going through the motions.” Make sure you knock with all sincerity, and I assure you God will open His door of love, grace, mercy, healing, and strength wide to you. He has for me. He has for thousands and millions of your neighbors. He has for multitudes upon multitudes since the beginning of time. How do we know this? Start reading the Bible from Matthew 1:1 through John 21:25. It’s the most amazing Truth. I encourage you to read and judge for yourself. But don’t just go through the motions, or you’ll be wasting your time. Read it with the most sincerity you can muster, even as a skeptic. You will find answers. You will have some more questions. Keep digging and you will continue to find new answers and new questions, each bringing you closer to Truth, and along the way you’ll come to realize that there was no greater pursuit in your entire life.

The Glorious Life of Ups and Downs

To my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,

I find it stunning yet unsurprising that this would be the “My Utmost” the day after my conversation with a friend last night. I know God is using O.C. to reach from beyond the grave and speak to us exactly, given our conversation about when we feel like we’re “not where I once was.” When we feel this descending, as sincere Christ followers it may not actually be a testament of falling, but rather of being sent out because of who we are in Christ. Be careful to discern the truth here: sometimes we actually have fallen and must rebuke our sinful behaviors and return to Christ, but other times we have remained in Him, though we feel this descending. I do not know all of your spiritual mountain tops and valleys, but I have climbed the mount in a period of my life, during which I was actually experiencing great trial. The passage below means a lot to me not because I was descending in my trials…no, that was the trek up the mountain, full of exhilaration, especially once reaching the summit; but climbing Everest is also brutal and can kill a man, as it almost did me.

Perhaps you have been brought to recognize that you are standing at the top of this mountain or very near it, just by the spiritual high with which your life has been filled. If so, then you can be exquisitely prepared by the passage below for what is next—the descent. I do not know if it will come in 1 day or 1 year or 10 years, but we now know to expect it. For you and for others who are certainly in the valley, instead of being discouraged that “we must have backslidden,” or “I am not where I once was with the Lord,” perhaps we can look at it squarely, thank God for the summit of the mountain, and set out on our descent willingly because it is necessary. And of course, I think He brings us back to the summit when we most need it.

I wonder if for those of us who have long lives on earth while in relationship with God, life and the pursuit of the Kingdom is like crossing a mountain range, which brings us from earth toward Heaven. With each mountain top, we receive another even clearer glimpse of the Destination, and we are inspired to continue. Yet, in order to reach the next peak, we must descend, and both the descent and climb to the next peak are hard, perhaps each more difficult than the last or perhaps not. Regardless, we find our lives oscillating and wonder why we can’t just walk the high road perpetually with our Lord. We will. But until we reach Heaven, our character is built with each mountain and we grow toward Him in an intentional way that is unique to the human experience on earth. So having more mountains serves to grow us in character and hope and faith and love in a way that we could not have otherwise.

but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. - Isaiah 40:31

You see, when we're on the mountain top, we are soaring on wings like eagles. But other times we're just walking, barely plodding along with seemingly no progress. We will need to be able to do both, and God's promise assures us that He is our strength in all times.

We may be staggered for portions of our lives, you on the mount, me in a valley or vice versa. But we are headed in the same direction. Most have very different paths, and we are no exception, yet we can find similarities I’m sure. If you fall, I’m coming along beside you to help. If I fall, you know how to help me. This is a wonderful realization of our interaction as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!...Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecc 4:9-12

Realize that the cord of three stands is two believers in Christ, wrapped around the master strand of God. There is immeasurable strength in that cord. We have the additional opportunity to join up with even more believers, offering our strength and drawing from theirs. Our cord is then profitable for all, with greater strength than ever, as we realize that our individual strength is actually quite small beside the essential Central Cord.

From "My Utmost for His Highest," Oct 1:

THE SPHERE OF EXALTATION

"Jesus leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves." Mark 9:2

We have all had times on the mount, when we have seen things from God's standpoint and have wanted to stay there; but God will never allow us to stay there. The test of our spiritual life is the power to descend; if we have power to rise only, something is wrong. It is a great thing to be on the mount with God, but a man only gets there in order that afterwards he may get down among the devil-possessed and lift them up. We are not built for the mountains and the dawns and aesthetic affinities, those are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle. Spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mount. We feel we could talk like angels and live like angels, if only we could stay on the mount. The times of exaltation are exceptional, they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware lest our spiritual selfishness wants to make them the only time.

We are apt to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching, it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz., into character. The mount is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a great snare in asking – What is the use of it? In spiritual matters we can never calculate on that line. The moments on the mountain tops are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God's purpose.

Gianna Jessen: Abortion Survivor

This is one of the more powerful speeches I've heard. Don't be intimidated by the 16 min length--it goes very quickly. Have you ever spoken with an abortion survivor? You can hear from one below:

Gianna Jessen from LMF CAM on Vimeo.

The Pursuit of Happiness – Science, Logic, and Love

This goes out to all the men and women of science and logic, especially those who hold these in such high esteem as to make them the center of their lives and define their principal purpose through scientific and logical thought.

Let me first say that I am an engineer, and anyone who knows me with any degree of depth knows that I am a man of science and love to study all the things we have learned and continue to learn through such an intellectually stimulating field of study. Science attempts to describe our current world and understand our natural past, and it can even be utilized to try to understand our interaction with one another. It is logical when pure and is established by observation and physical proof. It speaks not to morals or human motivation, but rather, can evaluate the results of behaviors. But when it comes to caring for others, where do science, logic, and reason weigh in?

If the scientific viewpoint attempts to speak about whether or not we should care for others and if so, then whom we care for and whom we do not, it is through reason and the study of people groups, as well as individuals. First, in order to form a conclusion on whether or not we should engage in a behavior, we must first agree upon what is good, or what is a desirable outcome. Leaving the idea of a god out of it, what is good and desirable for a human? To preserve one’s own life, certainly. To gain the most pleasure, which may mean preserving other life so long as it is a means to achieving that pleasure, and to be personally content and happy. Personal contentment and happiness then need to be defined. To some it is fame or riches, to others it is a lasting impact on the world, and still to others who believe in God, it is the promise of something great outside of this human life. In any case, it is a personal sense of fulfillment through a life lived in a particular way.

So where does that leave the following noble causes: caring for widows, orphans, and the poor; for the oppressed, enslaved, and those under injustice? (1, 2, 3) Why would we seek to help these people? Surely not because our scientific investigation tells us to, and surely not out of personal gain. Or perhaps those who desire fame as a life goal and fulfillment want to be known for helping the less fortunate. In that case, quite honestly, the less fortunate have become merely a stepping stone to a personal sense of fulfillment. In fact, taking that to the logical next step, if you were the most capable of men with that desire, then you would seek to find the most stepping stones for the most glory, and in the extreme case in which those most capable men would be driven, they might create such oppression so that they could play the part of rescuer. To understand this example, you must realize that we have thrown God out of the conversation and acknowledged the pursuit of personal happiness and fulfillment as the ultimate goal in life. There are many less noble goals than helping the helpless, but if the goal behind even this noble cause is self-satisfaction, then it is merely another selfish outlet—though it looks different and noble externally, it is a pursuit just as self-centered and potentially treacherous as that of the man who cheats, steals, and murders the innocent to gain possessions which fulfill his life’s desires.

Even so, in our world, even the most prolific rescuers of the oppressed, regardless of their motivation, are not exalted most highly among men. Those with the greatest followings and fame include athletes, rich business men, entertainment icons, politicians and public figureheads. If fame, recognition, and self-realized impact among men is your goal, then these are your most noble and desirable career paths.

Now, whatever you personally choose to pursue, you surely think it is best in some way or another or you would not pursue it. So if it is best, then the next man should pursue it to his fullest, as well. And if we all followed suit, pursuing what is logical and gives us the greatest pleasure that is summed up by wealth, fame, recognition, or impact seen by the masses or even esteem in the eyes of one other human, then perhaps no one would care for the oppressed and at most would only be caring for them in order to serve their own personal gain. Certainly no one would love them, even if they helped them. Why should they be loved anyway? Loving them is not logical or beneficial to you in of itself, without reaping these benefits of recognition or other desires; and as a man or woman of pure logic and pursuit of personal fulfillment, even when helping others, love is irrelevant, for it was not your goal. Yet, you yourself seek to be loved.

Maybe that drive to be loved would make you then care for the oppressed, so that they will love you in return. That’s logical in a “quid pro quo” kind of way. But if your pursuit is love, then it is not scientific or logical at its foundation. What is love? Why should you be loved? It is not always profitable for our wellbeing, for sacrifices will be necessary when actions are rooted in love. Love profits love and it profits others, but not necessarily the circumstances of the individual acting in or receiving love. For instance, if you love your child, you often make hard choices and sacrifices for their well-being. By the same token, if you love them and desire them to learn to be their best, you will have to guide them away from certain things; and that guidance will feel painful to them in the present, though you know it will benefit them in the future. In both circumstances, love profited all, but happiness as previously defined was traded for love. The pursuit of happiness in itself turns out to be quite futile and terribly elusive without love.

Perhaps you say, “Well, I have not uncovered the mystery of the need to be loved and to love—it is just the nature of humans—but since I know it as fact, logically, I will pursue it to the fullest, regardless of why the desire is there. Therefore, doing something such as caring for the oppressed, such that greater love is felt by me through it, serves my life goal of the maximum pleasure of love and in a very logical way.” Very true. And you are so close to the nature of love, yet unfortunately still misguided! Your statement would be true. Yet, the statement, though logical, has defeated the previous logical pursuits of what we consider good, trading them all for love. And love itself is not scientifically quantifiable or logical. So to move forward we must acknowledge that the scientific pursuit of understanding of our world as our purpose with logic as our guide falls short. The element of love must enter in, or if you reject that, then we are back to where we left off with each man pursuing what he considers good, which is personal gain and helping others when it serves our personal desires.

So who will care for the oppressed without abandoning the scientific and logical slightly, without the element of love? Why should it matter anyway, concerning the less fortunate? “Survival of the fittest…they are in that position for a reason.” Do you truly believe that concerning these fellow humans? Certainly saving the oppressed does not fit into what we could consider beneficial for society in all logic and scientific knowledge: Saving the weak who would otherwise die serves to increase the world population. Is the principle of “more people on earth is better” sound? In a world of ever-rapidly depleting natural resources, logic would dictate a population reduction, or at least a plateau: more for us and self-preservation. How about the prospect of giving away my wealth, position, and power for another? That is not logical if personal fulfillment is my pursuit, unless doing so personally fulfills me. At that point, we have circled back to the previous conversation that concludes with love. How about preserving the weakest in society? Doesn’t that serve to weaken society as a whole? It certainly does immediately, but perhaps you can reason out that those saved would be brought up and strengthened such that society ultimately benefits from them. What an optimist you must be to think in such a way—and you are right. So we have given up some of ourselves for the betterment of another and society as a whole. How noble! But is that logical? Not if personal fulfillment is our life’s pursuit, unless benefiting others more than ourselves does indeed fulfill us. Ah ha, that is the definition of love!(4) So love has become the center, once again, for anything good that we might do outside of pure personal gain.(5, 6)

The point of all this banter is that if we seek to serve science and logic alone, we will engage in a number of terrible behaviors, and only by love can we do anything truly good.(5, 6) In the other case, absent of love, where does the cycle stop? First we reject the oppressed or use them only as a stepping stone to personal satisfaction, next we apply this attitude and behavior to those we consider “second class” to ourselves, then to those just slightly worse off than us; meanwhile, those slightly better off than us and certainly those much better off are treating us the same way. This world then becomes a free-for-all, selfish quest for personal gain and the illusion of happiness outside of love. Love cannot be quantified by science, logic, or reason. God is love.(6) Without God, there is no love.(6) Without love, there is no selfless action, and without selfless action, we will tear ourselves apart until the last man stands and eventually dies a lonely death. Will you open your eyes to God’s love and take on a life of greater purpose and fulfillment than you could have imagined in all your human reason and logic?

(1) Isaiah 1:17 - “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”

(2) James 1:27 - “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

(3) Luke 4:18-19 (Isaiah 61:1-2) - "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

(4) 1 Cor 13:4-8a (emphasis added) - “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails…”

(5) John 15:5 - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

(6) 1 John 4:7-12 - “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

* All Bible texts are from the New International Version (NIV)

"Pray It Through" - Spiritual Warfare via Prayers of Agreement

Eph 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The older I get, the more obvious it becomes to me that prayer is supernatural warfare. Think about it: when we pray, we are not changing God’s mind nor His timing. There is no argument of reason that could change His already perfectly reasoned plan. There is no heartfelt plea of good things that He has not already ordained in not only a good way, but the best way. He already knows and is guiding that perfect thing in the perfect timing. The question isn’t of changing Him or convincing Him, but rather, of our hearts being transformed for something more glorious through the offering of our desires as sacrifices to His will.

Going further, once we have been given such a glorious change of heart to match the will of God, such that all that we would ask would be given (Matt 7:7-11), we know we are still to pray. Why? After all, there is no more change to be had in that situation: the Lord has revealed His will and we have conformed our will and desired timing. Truthfully, even when we glimpse a specific future promise of His will, the timing often eludes our understanding, so we typically do need to continually pray for patience. But even if we have both a specific desire and the timing of our desire matching God’s, we are still to pray. This is for at least two reasons:

Firstly, it is pleasing to God to have this conversation of agreement between Father and adopted son or daughter (Psalm 141:2, Rev 5:8). Therefore, we should continue to pray in agreement simply for the enjoyment between us, especially our Master’s enjoyment. However, this is only part of the truth. What has finally become clear to me is that the act of sincere prayer in agreement with God’s will is supernatural warfare. That when we have prayed His will over ourselves or another person, whether near or far, the spiritual realm is pulsed with the power of God on earth. The power of God in the spiritual realm on earth is felt across the globe when even one righteous man prays for God’s justice for the oppressed in another part of the world. These prayers pierce the Evil One and suppress him, all the while reviving the Holy Spirit in our comrades. It is the source of why James 5:16 is true: “the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective.” Recognizing the supernatural battlefront helps us to embrace this truth with renewed understanding.

I say let’s hit the floor in prayer, the battlefield in our bedrooms, vehicles, churches, streets, and everywhere we go. First, we seek to be transformed and conformed to God’s will, such that our desires are His desires. But that is only the beginning. Next, we pray in agreement and fight the good fight. In the meantime, we share what God has revealed to us about His will to others so that more warriors can fight alongside us. Lastly, we “pray it through.” That means that if you have the faith to recognize a promise of God and a hope that you know 100% does not disappoint (Rom 5:1-5), you don’t stop praying. You could stop, for the promise was true and is not revoked, but you would be abandoning the battlefield where your comrades are under fire. Continue to pray, doing it for them if not for yourself. Every prayer is spiritual warfare. It is either the boot camp and training ground where we learn what is beneficial for our Kingdom (conforming our will to His), or it is deployment into the active battlefield that requires desiring, enacting, and praying for the things which God wills. Will you be content to graduate boot camp and never set foot on the battlefield for which you were trained, or can your comrades count on you to stand with them? I'm enlisting today. Will you join me?

“I Don’t Judge” – The Misguided, Politically Correct Christian

Recently I realized that confessing I have homosexual family members that I love brings home the point of loving them, yet completely rebuking their behavior. I have the slightest amount of God’s passionate disapproval for homosexuality, meaning that I loathe its existence. There are several people I know that have chosen that lifestyle, a few of which are within my very family. And I find it stunningly clear that I hate that sinful lifestyle, while still absolutely loving them. I so want them to hear God’s voice and know His truth and come back to Him, instead of being hindered by a life of continual sin. I think we can take on this attitude of Christ for sinners of all kinds, including you and me.

Very quickly, since I know that some errantly contend that homosexuality is not an abomination to God, I want to offer up God’s truth to you through these words of God straight from the Bible. The law against homosexuality in the Old Testament is contained in Leviticus and is upheld in the New Testament:

Lev 18:22 – “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ”

Lev 20:13 – “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” (NKJV)

Before Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, sin was punishable by immediate death. We only have the grace of being spared through Christ, and thank the Lord! Yet, the sin is still a sin and repentance is now the only requirement.

Remember that Jesus addressed the laws of the Old Testament in this way:

Matt 5: 17-20 - “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (NKJV)

And He goes on in the subsequent passages to describe how the laws before His incarnation were physical, but now they have been extended to be within the intent of the heart in addition to the outward physical action—keeping the law within the desire of the heart and not simply superficially, yet still keeping it physically.

Furthermore, Paul addresses homosexuality in the New Testament:

Rom 1:22, 25b-27 – “Professing to be wise, they became fools…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.” (NKJV)

Additionally, the Bible is clear that sex is a gift of God that He ordains strictly within marriage.

1 Cor 7:1-2 – “Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:
It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.” (NKJV)

This points to the truth that a man “touching a woman” sexually is immoral until they are married and it is then made moral. Therefore, the sexually promiscuous outside of marriage include both homosexual and heterosexual behaviors. But realize this: God has never made a provision for a man to marry a man or woman to marry a woman—search the Bible and you will not find it. He joyfully speaks of marriage between man and woman and never between those of the same gender. Therefore, if marriage is not ordained by God between those of the same gender, then neither is sex. So what is a committed relationship of love without anything of a sexual nature? Great friendship—it is the substance of the other three loves outside of eros. And that is the extent of the same gender relationship as ordained by the Bible. Now, you may say that today we have same-sex marriage in some states. Ok, we also have abortion. In some states of the world, we have legalized murders of adults and legalized sex-slavery of children as young as 6 years old. So do we say that if it is legalized in the world, then it is right? Of course not. We must consult the Bible to test the laws of man. If you do not claim to believe the Bible, then these thoughts are irrelevant to you until you come to know it as Truth. But those of you who do claim to believe the Bible, examine your belief right now. If you believe homosexuality is not a sin, then you have declared that you don’t believe the Bible.

But the point of this message is not about homosexuality specifically so much as the travesty of the cop-out that “I don’t judge” has become, including within the Christian community. We, as humans, so easily stray to either side! We are either so judgmental that we sin by our judging and call condemnation on ourselves, while hurting others at the same time, or we are so watered down for the fear of being judgmental that we fail to stand for anything moral (often this fear is not of sin or the Lord, but fear of public opinion…another issue to address). Let’s call it what it is: sin. God loves sinners and died “while we were yet sinners” (Rom 5:8). Yet, there is condemnation for those who reject Christ and His righteousness (Heb 10:26-21), which is to be our righteousness upon recognition of Him, which is manifested in our living it. Just as surely as there is a Heaven, there is a Hell. Jesus died while we did not love Him, so we are to at least die to our sinful selves AFTER seeing that He loves us. That’s not even noble—to “love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). But this is another discussion, as well.

I have sidetracked slightly in the second half of the above paragraph; coming back to the topic at hand, I want to absolutely tear down and build back up America’s understanding of the word “judge,” the context with which it is used in the Bible, and what is right or wrong for us. We must do one of two things with this concept of judgment: we must either accept that we will use the same word “judge” with separate meanings, or accept that we will no longer use the word “judge” in both contexts, and hereafter refer to eternal condemnation or glorification of a soul by one term, and independently refer to righteous discernment and recognition of both godliness and forbidden behavior by another term.

I believe great men of God have written books or at least articles on this subject, and it might be a good time to seek them out and gear up for this one. It is too common today. Do you know what is equally as appalling to God as hypocritical condemnation of another’s soul to hell? Saying “I don’t judge” and refusing to recognize sin as sin! There is no difference—both bring us far from God!

I noticed something very simple, yet profound last week while reading letters in the Bible from men such as Paul, Peter, and John. I was suddenly floored by not only their boldness of proclaiming God’s goodness, but also their boldness of calling out evil behaviors in specific individuals, whether they were inside or outside the church. These are examples we need today to embolden us to Truth, whether that truth be recognition of Christ or Satan in another.

For a long time, it seems we have rightfully fought the fight of human nature that is errantly displayed through hypocritical condemning of people, wrongfully “judging,” in that there was no love behind it and those “judging” were not worthy of “casting the first stone” (John 7:8), and not only that, they did not know half the story as they thought they did. We have fought that good fight by being ever vigilant against unrighteous, hypocritical judgment—“as we judge, so we also will be judged.”

Matt 7: 1-5 – “"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”

Weren’t we once so full of sin and seemingly hopeless? Yes we were, and only the supernatural power of Christ has saved us, and His power is offered to all other sinners as well. As long as we recognize that, we can righteously judge, or discern, a lifestyle of sin as sin, being mindful of our own “planks in the eye,” lest we be self-righteous. I think we must simultaneously fight these opposite battlefronts, for “I don’t judge” has become the trendy mindset of the politically correct “Christian” that seems to have swept the nation. It is prevalent in many people I know personally. It is prevalent in mature Christians that I would otherwise look up to. It is even a concept that I myself have started to give way to in my immaturity, but thank God He awakened me to reject it. Again, the preacher’s example of the rider on the horse is so relevant here: God has set us upon a horse that represents His righteousness and the path He desires for us that leads to Him. Satan wants us off that horse, and he doesn’t care if we fall to the right or left. If he pushes us to the right and we recognize it and immaturely lean so far to the other side that we begin to fall to the left, Satan will surely get behind that just as much or more than his original temptation. We must stay on the horse, for “narrow is the gate” that leads to Heaven (Matt 7:13-14). In this case, being unrighteously and hypocritically judgmental leads us to fall off the horse on one side; and selling out to the “I don’t judge” mentality, failing to discern sin as sin, leads us to fall off the horse on the other side. (There is more to this horse example that occurs to me, concerning God’s pace and ours—I think we can fall forward in impatience and backward in lethargy, but that is yet another discussion entirely.)

It is up to us who know and understand these concepts to communicate it to others. We can help open their eyes, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! Some are willing but just unknowing…babes in Christ that only need to hear it out of our mouths, only to have us lead them to the scriptures that they didn’t realize existed or didn’t understand before. Others are more difficult, and God’s work in them is especially powerful, for we could not conceive of how they might be saved. Others know these truths, and will be emboldened by our speaking of the Truth. I think “the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:34-38), so we must take the opportunity to enlighten those whose hearts have been prepared by God to receive these truths. It’s time that we become an emboldened Body of Christ. It’s time to be “as wise as serpents, but gentle as doves” (Matt 10:16).

There is an additional warning that God gave Ezekiel, and I think it applies to us who know God’s truths today:

Ezekiel 2:17-21 - “"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.
20 "Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 21But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."

Therefore, we must deliver these truths whether they be uplifting or seemingly condemning both to the unrighteous and righteous, firstly so that they might be saved, and secondly so that we might be pleasing to God, innocent of a lost soul who didn’t know Christ because we shut our mouths. Let us give every man every opportunity—let us speak the word of the Lord as often as He provides it to us. If you are reading this today and the scriptures listed above, you have received the Word of the Lord. Amen.

Good Things Gone Bad

Check out the Sept. 17 "My Utmost" by Oswald Chambers: http://www.myutmost.org/09/0917.html

This one has some eye opening statements, such as the following: “Temptation is a suggested short cut to the realization of the highest at which I aim - not towards what I understand as evil, but towards what I understand as good.”

Wow, think about that. It’s very true, and very convicting. Think of this: that good thing that you know God has in store for you today or tomorrow…be on guard! Do not take a shortcut around God’s way to it! I guess that’s why it’s important to “take every thought captive.” (2 Cor 10:5)

I don’t mean to ruin anyone’s day with this…I think it’s empowering. I’m using it less to say, “well, I thought that was a good thing” and more to say “ah ha, this is a good thing, but I will not pursue it haphazardly…I will watch for the shortcut and deny myself of it…I will pursue the good thing the Good way.” These good things include food, shelter, friendship, purpose, servitude, physical fitness, knowledge, rest, occasional entertainment, each kind of love, and everything else. But don’t we feel temptation and sometimes fall when pursuing these good things? Not that any of them were bad of themselves, and in fact they were blessing from God, but we did not pursue them God’s way, or as O.C. puts it, “realization of the highest at which I aim.” The highest at which I aim is more than that at which I am aiming—the highest realization of that thing is equally the road to the destination as much as the destination—otherwise, we did not in fact arrive at that place we set out toward, as our minds comprehended the blessing as a snapshot, some static representation of what we righteously desire, instead of correctly perceiving that it was actually something alive, requiring the Creator’s breath to be meaningful and not just a shadow of what we once set out toward without Him.

Let’s say God has revealed to you that He wants to give you some rest soon. Is receiving that rest the extent of the blessing? You could then say, “ok, I’m cancelling everything and just resting today.” Nevermind that you told a friend you would do something for them, you have a presentation due the next day, and your kids are expecting you at their ballgame. Perhaps if we had full faith in God’s promise, we wouldn’t take the matter into our own hands and miss the highest realization of the blessing, in this case rest. Otherwise, if we have strayed spiritually while pursuing the good thing God planned for us, where is our rest? If we have separated from God even slightly, our physical rest is offset by spiritual unrest. God had planned both: resting in Him and His presence paired up with physical rest for a truly recharging experience. Similar examples could be applied to our God given purpose, God given friendships, pursuit of knowledge of God and His Word, the 4 loves that He has planned for us, and just about any other blessing.

I think this realization can actually be a confidence builder because we are better equipped to destroy temptation head-on, though it certainly is convicting. What do you think?

Redeeming Seema

Check out the short movie below and please consider visiting http://www.causes.com/causes/8083 to become a small but active part in what God is doing through Charasia!

Redeeming Seema from Charasia on Vimeo.

Claymore Pictures and Mothlight Creative present "The Story of Seema." Please watch and then to donate goto http://www.causes.com/causes/8083

Immediately Profitable and Sustainable Life

A family friend recently passed away at the age of 56, and it has resulted in a time of reflection for me and some family members. Our hearts go out to his family who must carry on in this world without him, including children, a wife, and parents, to name a few. The thought hit me that his purpose must have been accomplished on this earth, all timelines aside. What is time after all? Time would have no meaning if it weren’t created for man’s world by God. So to God, this man’s life wasn’t 56 years so much as it was the number of people who loved and were loved by him, the number of people drawn to God through him, and this man’s one soul who accepted Christ and is coming to Heaven…irrespective of it being 5, 55, or 105 years.

So I wonder how many years I have for my purpose to be completed? The answer to that question doesn’t matter as much as the next phase of thought: what if today was the conclusion of my life, the end? Conversely, and just as importantly: what if today and the next day and the next are not the conclusion, or the end of my life? Could I live my life today as though it will end today? Would I therefore do everything that is within me to bring glory to God with the time I have left, or would I pursue other things? Would my behavior change with that knowledge of the length of my life? But then again, it doesn’t seem practical to live as though it’s our last day if it’s really not—we’ll be completely spent: money, energy, reputation and all else. But the epiphany is this: these are at odds with one another—the present verses the future—because of our world view.

Think about it: there is a natural law that is true in most situations that the future is at the expense of the present and vice versa. We invest and give up money, in order to reap the reward later. We work hard today, so that we can play hard or relax tomorrow. Or we indulge in instant gratification today, paying the consequences tomorrow. Additionally, in the business world, we often make decisions based upon this dilemma: is it profitable now and/or will it be sustainable in the future? Quite simply, a business must be profitable both immediately and in the future, and decisions cannot be made that cater to only one or the other. Whatever the situation and application, this law seems to persist, and the “live as though you’ll die tomorrow” attitude is no different. What do you think—what would you do if you knew you would die tomorrow?

Some of the things that came to your mind you should go ahead and do today—I hope you’ve been emboldened. Others however, I wouldn’t advise you to be so rash and short-sighted about. Now think again of the things you’d do if you knew for certain that you would die tomorrow—would you still do them tomorrow if you knew you’d be alive for 50 more years? For instance, you may have said, “If I knew I’d die tomorrow, I wouldn’t go to work—I’d spend all my money, call all those I love, spend time and talk with them, and go to that place I’ve never been…I’d do this and that and this and that.” Grand plans, I’m very certain. However, if you knew for certain that you wouldn’t die for another 50 years, would you do those same things tomorrow? Not likely all of them. Certainly you wouldn’t quit your job and spend every last dime of your money. Though you might still tell those you love most that you do love them, and you might go out of your way to be especially nice or make time for another loved one. Yet most of the things of which we first think don’t pass this dichotomic test of time-defined benefit. But I would like to suggest to you that there is a single fail-safe choice that will be both immediately profitable and sustainable for your entire future, a way that is good and wise if you die tomorrow or not for another 50 years: This way is abandonment to God. It is the only life that has no tradeoff in time—no now vs. later mentality—Jesus Christ is simply best for you now and later, and there is no dilemma. It flies in the face of natural law. The things of this world have such tradeoffs, but living for Christ never does. Now, we must “count the cost,” which is death to this world and losing our carnal selves for the sake of Christ: this is our tradeoff. Sin and worldly desires traded for righteousness and eternal perfect love and oneness with our God.

Luke 14:27-33 – “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

However, this tradeoff is not one of now vs. later, immediate benefit verses long term benefit. It is profitable to God, you, me, and all souls past, present, and future both now and forever. It is profitable for all because of the oneness of all to which we are called. This includes all who have believed in Jesus and gone to Heaven, past, present, and future.

Jesus' prayer in John 17:20-26 – “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Do you feel a call from God to go somewhere and do something and serve Him in a particular way? Then by all means do it, if He is calling you right now. Do you feel no specific call to change in your general circumstances? That is fine, for He is calling you right where you are. The point isn’t where you go or what you do or who you become or what kind of servant you are—the point is that you serve Him right now, right where you are, both immediately and sustainably for the rest of your human life and into Heaven for eternity. If we “put on Christ” (Gal 3:27), we are assured an immediate “harvest” (John 4:35, Luke 10:2), as well as sustainable relationship with God. This will not only impact our souls but the souls of those around us. I encourage you to seek opportunities to invest in Christ today by what you choose to do. Choose Him in a way that is both immediately profitable for Christ’s sake and sustainable. Don’t think in terms of the world, for you will surely “count it all as loss for the sake of Christ”—you will grow to love Him so much that you care less and less of the things of the world and more and more for Him, His Kingdom, and your fellow man.

Phil 3:7-9 – “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;”

“Whatever you do, do for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). This is one daily choice that we can have supreme certainty of being immediately profitable and eternally sustainable, no matter whether we are living our last day or the first of many more on earth. Until we meet in Heaven, I pray that our lives, yours and mine, will be permeated by Christ in this way. It is the only way of true joy and a life of true meaning, unbound by time. Amen.