Gandi… Wow, I just watched the movie last night, and it powerfully impacted me. What impressed me the most was the power of influence. Gandi did not just live for his own life. He did not just try to be the best person that he could be in himself; he went out to influence people. Imagine telling an entire nation not to fight. Imagine trying to impact that many people, to tell that many people that it is for their benefit that they lay down their anger and do not resist those that are against them with bloodshed. Imagine telling an angry mob that they should not fight! And then imagine actually believing that they will listen! Wow. Gandi knew what he believed, and he knew it so strongly that he was not afraid to tell the entire nation to live it. Imagine the doubt that must have went through his mind. Imagine how he could have questioned “What if I am wrong?” But he simply stood strong on his position, and he literally changed a nation. He caused a nation to quit fighting simply by believing it was possible and living that belief out!

            Imagine believing so strongly in your cause that you do not only live it, but you also influence others to live it!  I am deeply challenged. I live my life generally feeling like I am only responsible for myself. I allow others to have their own beliefs, and live their own lives even if I feel like they are completely wrong. I do not seek to impact. I allow the Bible and the words that I read to impact only myself, I do not seek to allow them to impact those around me. I see the life of Gandi, and I see the incredible power of influence. By myself I can make a small difference in the world around me, but if I seek to influence others, if I seek to make my life a call to others to follow Jesus as well, then I can make a huge difference in the world. There is such an incredible power in influence! I have realized that I am so wrong, so terribly wrong. My job is not just to live for myself, its not just to follow Christ myself the best that I can. It is to influence.

            My challenge and my question today is, how strongly do you believe in Jesus Christ? How strongly do you believe in his power to change lives? And are you willing to allow that belief to permeate who you are so strongly that you are willing to actually take responsibility for leading a nation in that direction? There can be no questioning “What if I am wrong?” You must be so strong on your position that you believe without a shadow of a doubt that you are leading many people in the right direction.

            It is not until we are that strong on our beliefs that we can make an impact. But if we can say “I know whom I have believed”, and truly mean it, I believe that we can change a nation. Psalm 2:8 says “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” God wants to give us the nations, but we got to believe him! Are we willing to stand on what we believe, to be confident enough in the truth of it that we are willing to impact nations? How big do we believe that our God is?

Purpose within longings

I was thinking today, thinking about purpose. Like what is my purpose here on earth? I’m sure that is a question that has been asked many times, by many different people. What is my purpose? Is my purpose simply to enjoy life, to do all that I can do to make sure that my life is comfortable, or does my purpose possibly go deeper than that?

I look around me, and I see so many people. People all going for some dream, or longing for something or wishing life was different in some way, and I wonder, what is the purpose in that? I’m not saying that to have desires in life is wrong. I do not think that it is at all, I believe, in fact, that God wired us with desires. He wired us to long for things, to dream for things, to live, and to love. But I guess I just had a thought, and maybe it’s not that great of a thought, but could my purpose be found in those longings? I mean the unmet ones? My question is not if the fulfillment of those longing could help me find my purpose, but that simply the existence of those unmet longings are my purpose?

Let me try to explain. The existence of unmet longings makes me more aware of my pain. They allow me to see those things in life that I want; I long for, but maybe never will have. Now once I see that pain I have two choices; either focus on the pain and try to do everything that I can to alleviate it, or focus on God. Focus on God may seem like a cliché answer, but bear with me.

Pain, rejection, losing someone, loving, but not being loved in return, losing what you have fought for all your life, lonliness; these are some of the greatest things that cause us pain in life. But could it be that these are the things that make the greatest gift to God?  Is it possible that we can thank God for these things because they give us the opportunity to bring more glory to his name? Is there more depth to a trial then the trial itself?

Maybe, in these longings our job is not to do all that we can do to get rid of the longing, to find a solution, to fix the relationship, to get what we want. Maybe our job is simply to find out how to have joy and peace in God throughout the trial. Maybe our focus is totally wrong. I know there are things that we want, and we want them really bad, and then those things become our focus instread of God. But God has said that he is enough for us. That means that he is enough! That means that no matter how deep a longing can be in our hearts, our purpose is not to fulfull that longing, but to find God in a way that goes deeper than that longing.

I believe that the root of all of our longings in some way is God. So instead of focusing on that longing, why don’t we allow ourself to let go of the longing and focus on God? This may sound overly simplistic for those who are truly struggling with huge loss, with legitimate struggles, with pain that is unexpressable. But I believe that God can go deeper than even that. These struggles are indeed a gift from God, an opportunity to truly find Him in a deeper way. Paul stated that he learned to be content in any and every situation. That truly is a gift. Can we learn to find our contentment within our circumstances, within the places that we have that pain? Can we find our purpose in God within our longings?

The Mirror

          
           The word is like a mirror is it not? I have been looking into the word, I have been reading it, I have been studying it. But I haven't really been seeing my reflection in it. Maybe I am not reading it in the right way?

            So when I look at verses like 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". I wonder how much of me this reflects. How much do I actually look after those widows and orphans? I'm so wrapped up in my own life that I forget to see those around me! This world is so incredibly full of needy people.   

            Then there is the verse that states that we are to remain in him. John 15:5 "If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing". And I wonder, how much am I actually remaining in him? He says that "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you" (John 15:7). I don't see that happening in my life. I have been asking, but I have not yet been receiving. Is that a good indication of the fact that I am not yet remaining in him?

            And then what about 1 John 3:6 "no one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him." And I realize that there is still a lot of sin in my life. I do continue to sin. I am not living the perfect life that I wish I was living! So does that mean that I have not even seen him?  

            So I'm looking at these verses, and there are so many more, and I'm realizing that I am really looking into a mirror. And I'm not really liking what I am seeing. I am seeing an imperfect human being with so incredibly many faults. I do not match up to what I want to see when I look at the word. I do not want to be like the man in James 1:23,24 "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like". Is that not the easy route? To realize we can never make it, and so give up and just continue on the way that we are living? Is there somehow another option?

            Then I realized that it doesn't stop there, and that is what can give me hope! James 1:25 states "But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does". That is the man that I want to be! I want to continue to look intently into that perfect law, and then live in it!

            And I believe that the perfect law that gives freedom is not the traditional law that we look at. When Jesus died on the cross he made a new covenant with us. The rules to this new covenant are found in 1 John 3:23 "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us". Its actually pretty simple, but so incredibly complicated. But we just got to believe in the name of his Son. And when we do that, all of our sins are washed away!

            Hebrews 10:14 states that "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy". So truly when I look into the mirror of the word, I need to look at this mirror with the sacrifice of Jesus in my mind. He has washed away all of my sins so before him I am completely perfect! So by the amazing grace of God, that mirror now only reflects His perfection.

            This is the only perfect law that could bring freedom! There is no way I could ever live up to the traditional law. Romans 3:23 states "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". I cannot, ever, by my own works make myself perfect. I can look into the mirror of the law all that I want, and try and try to "do" all these things written in it, but in the end I will only be condemning myself. It is not my righteousness that allows me to look intently into the perfect law and continue to live it in. It is the righteousness of Christ!

            Galatians 3:2 states "Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heart? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" And that is what I so easily do. I look into the traditional law and I try to be perfect, but when I step into faith, realizing that I am not perfect, nor can I ever make myself to be, then Jesus makes me perfect. Then I can look intently into the perfect law, I can live in it, I can keep it ever before my mind so I do not forget it, and I can know that I stand perfect before Christ. I can look into that mirror, and instead of seeing my own mess, I can see Christ's perfection. And then, through that faith (its the faith, not the works that count), I can be blessed in whatever I do.

Living on purpose

           So I was thinking the other day about living life. How much of it do we do on purpose? Now that may seem like a little bit of a funny question, but let me explain. Think about the things that really matter to you in life. The things that, in a way, define your life, these are the things that if people would ask you what really matters to you, you would think of first. To me, these are God, family, friends, relationships, people and ministry. Other people may have others. Then I wonder how much of the time do we really prioritize them? Like do we fit these things into our lives on purpose, or do they just happen to somehow, maybe, fit in around everything else around us?

            Its easy, its so easy just to take life as it comes, and sometimes it does get crazy hectic and busy, and its all we can do just to keep our heads above water. But are we stopping and thinking about these things that are making us busy, and really analyzing whether or not we want them to take precedence in our lives? Are we really living on purpose, or are we just letting life happen to us? Think about one of those things in life that you have just always wanted to do, but just never had time to actually get down to it and do it. Maybe we have to stop just long enough to actually think about what we do want in life. Maybe we have to take the time to live on purpose. Like maybe go for coffee with that person that we have always wanted to, but just didn't get a chance to. Or go hang out with a family member. Or most importantly, purposefully take the time to spend with God.

            I don't want us  to just let life happen to us. I want us to actually decide what we want, and then go for it. I want to see us bulding relationships on purpose, not just to let them happen, if they do. I want our lives to be defined by purposeful choices, not just default choices. Can we each take the time to choose what we really want, and then live our lives on purpose in that direction? Can we find and define our values and then live for them, instead of whatever comes our way? Can we actually truly live our lives on purpose?

Are you thirsty?

I was thinking about hunger and thirst this morning, and how I always feel that I am so hungry for God, or that I am so thirsty for God. But God has promised in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” I would take that as a promise. I have many times taken that as a promise and even quoted it for others. I see in others a hunger and I am assured that God will fill them. But then I question, why do we not see that filling more often? Why does it seem like this world is so incredibly full of hungry people, but I do not see very many filled ones? Are we missing something?

I look up John 7:37b-38 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Now that is a promise! That’s an incredible promise! All we have to do is come to him and drink if we are thirsty. Is that maybe our problem? We do not know how to come? I wonder why are we sitting here out in the desert crying out that we are thirsty when God has promised us water? And then he says that if we believe in him those streams of water will flow from within us! Now that is powerful! So, is our hunger and our thirst simply because of a lack of believing in him? We don’t know, or believe who he is, we don’t truly understand his power and his ability to fulfill us, so we sit in starvation waiting to be filled? Could our problem be that we just don’t know how to come?

John 4: 13,14 says “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, that water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” So that promise is very similar. The water that God gives is a spring of water. It is something that never ever stops. So in other words once we truly come to God, we should never thirst again. I meditate on this promise and it is so unbelievably powerful. The water that Jesus gives is a spring of water! So when I have that spring inside me, I can flow out to other people and I will never run dry. That is an amazing powerful spring of water!

So then why am I still always so thirsty for more of God? Why have I not seen that spring in my life? Why do I not feel satisfied in him at times? I believe that it could be because I don’t come to him. I don’t come to him in faith that he WILL fill me. I don’t believe these promises. Can I come to him and believe that he truly is able to fill me, to not only fill me, but to allow that spring of water to well up within me? Can I believe that my father truly is good, and that he wants to fill me?

Once those streams of water flow within me, they got to come out! You cannot have a continuous stream inside of you. Eventually you will explode. When we truly commune with God, those streams of water start to flow, and they got to come out! God longs to fill you, can you come to him in faith and believe that he will?

Vision

I was just thinking about vision this morning, and I realized how much power there is in vision. I see people, many people in this life that do not have vision. There are people who simply work their nine to five job every day for years. They do it cause that is life. They do not stop to think about life, or their purpose. I am not saying this to be judgemental, because I do the same thing at times. But it makes me wonder. Where is their vision? Where is my vision? Why do I do the things I do? I think it is a very good question to consider. Am I doing what I do just because it is what is in front of me, or is there a deeper purpose? How many times do I actually just sit down and think about what the deeper meaning in all this is?

            I am not saying all this to get into depression or discouragement. I think that we need to realize more what our vision in life is. I think if we do not have a vision we need to start praying and asking God to show us a vision for our lives. We only have one life to live. Are we going to simply sit by and just do that which is in front of us to do, or are we going to live with passion, excitement, and vision; with a purpose and a passion for that purpose. I believe that every single person on this earth has a specific purpose for which they can get incredibly passionate about. So are we going to search for that vision, or are we going to let life pass us by simply because it is the easier path to take?

            I want to encourage others to find their vision. I believe very strongly that everyone can find vision. Vision makes life worth living. When we are passionate about what we are doing we become more passionate about God. I believe living with vision is one of the most spiritual things that we can do! I want to just sit down for a while, take some time to just think, and analyze what I am passionate about. Then start to dream. Think about this question “if you were guaranteed that you would succeed in anything you tried, what would you do”? Or, “If money was not a limiting factor, what would you do”? Those are the type of questions that pull out your vision.

            We are limited in our vision because we are so afraid of failure. We limit ourselves because of our fear of not having enough money. We bind ourselves because we look only at our limitations instead of our capabilities. I believe this is why there are so many of us who live without a vision. We are paralyzed by fear. But I think we need to start to allow ourselves to dream! Allow vision to open our eyes to possibilities.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.  ~Howard Thurman

Busyness in life

Sometimes I question, why do we get so busy in life? I see people, many people, people all around me, each with their dreams, each with their plans, each with their lives to live, but each with a focus on themselves. Where does God fit into this picture? I see sometimes the culture of third-world countries. They don’t have the technology that we do. They don’t have the ability to get more accomplished in less time like we do. But they are never hurried. You see them all the time just chilling with each other, just hanging out on the side of the road. Why are they not too busy? And then I wonder, just what is their life like? I would love to just spend a month or so living in one of their homes. I want to see what poverty is like, but also I want to see what relationship is like. Sometimes I wonder if they actually have more than we do in the end. Are their lives richer than ours because they take the time for relationship? Does all our busyness really matter in the end?

 I was thinking today, there really are only two things that will last for eternity, and that is relationship with God, and relationship with people. Why then do we care so much about everything else? Shouldn’t we just focus on what is really important? Or how many times do we actually take the time out of our busyness to think about what is important? I do this myself, all of the time. I get myself so busy that I do not have to think. But I don’t want to do that. I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with being busy, but it is when that busyness takes priority over living life that it becomes wrong. Let me rephrase that. When we are so busy doing that we don’t have time to actually be with God while we are doing, then we are running into our busyness as a way to hide from God. Should God not be a part of everything that we do in our day? Can we not do everything that we do with him? But we forget do we not? We spend our “time” with God in the morning and then we are free for the rest of the day. Free from guilt because we put in our “time”.

But what about relationship? I want to see God as an integral part of absolutely everything that I do in my day! I want to see God in the relationships that I have with those around me. Isn’t that what God put people around us for? For us to find God in them? For us to live out love toward them? For us to express God? I believe there is something far deeper than what we see, in every single relationship that we have. Relationships are a spiritual experience. So then why do we get too busy for those relationships? I go back to my original question, what do we think is so important in life that we forfeit the things that matter the most?