Proverbs 13:20
Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.
As Andy Stanley says… “A fool is someone who knows something will hurt him and just doesn’t care. A fool will eventually blow up and if you’re walking alongside him, you’re bound to get hit with shrapnel.”
Are you walking with the wise or with a fool?
In your relationships?
In your ministry?
In your family?
In your job?
It’s far easier to walk away from a fool now than it is to pull out the shrapnel later.
Ezekiel 28:1
“In the pride of your heart you say, ‘I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.’ But you are a mortal and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.”
Let me tell you about myself… I’m a pretty special guy. Seriously… I colored a picture the other day. And stayed in the lines. You should really get my autograph.
How ridiculous is that? If someone came up to me and said that, I would probably have to laugh out loud (and then post it on facebook). No adult in their right mind would think that was important enough to tell me.
So why do I persist in telling God about how great I am? Seriously, I tell the Creator of EVERYTHING that I helped create a rockin’ environment for our worship at church. Or, I tell the Author of EVERYTHING that I posted a sweet blog today. Or, I remind the Savior of EVERYONE that I did something pretty good for my neighbor today.
I wonder if He ever listens to me with His incredible patience, smiles, and thinks, “Dude, get over yourself!”
I bet he does.
A healthy dose of humility is definitely due. And as we learn deeper humility, God will bless and be honored in what we are allowed to do.
I am EXCITED about this weekend! Here’s a couple reasons why:
The first several weeks of Soma have blown me away but I KNOW this is gonna be the BEST WEEKEND YET!
NOW is the time to bring your friends and family!
The two biggest questions I hear regarding people’s Callings are… ‘How do I REALLY know what God is calling me to?’ And… ‘Would God really ever call me to THAT?’
It’s important to seek that one thing that God has Called you – and no one else – to do. It’s equally important to not miss all the little things He has Called you for because you’re looking for that ONE BIG THING.
I believe I have missed being a part of so many great, God-ordained things simply because I’ve been fixated on figuring out if that thing is my one TRUE Calling.
If you suspect that you’re Called to something, go for it! Say “yes” to every opportunity you get. After all, if God’s going to Call you, He’s probably going to do it through someone you know! And you’ll never learn if it’s truly your gift or not by sitting on the sideline…
Pray about your Call. Listen for your Call. Discern your Call. But don’t slip into the crack of living life constantly asking for a sign and missing everything God is pointing at along the way!
Anything worth doing is going to demand something from you. Whether time, money or energy, a worthwhile task will demand a sacrifice every time. When the sacrifice is small and the cost is minimal, the choice is easy. Answer the Call. Engage the task. Serve the King.
However, when the sacrifice is large and the cost is significant, we hesitate. We hesitate because of the number of hours it will take to complete. We hesitate because it will be the kind of dirty work we hate. We hesitate because when we’re really, truly honest with ourselves, there’s a part hidden deep within us that is just a little bit lazy.
On the shelf over my desk, I have three words mounted in picture frames… Promise. Process. Payoff.
I thank Steven Furtick for this concept that has forever changed the way I approach my Calling. Here is the meaning…
Everything begins with a PROMISE - God promises to love us, protect us, save us and never leave us. He promises that life is better (though not always calmer) with Him than without Him. He promises that if we submit our lives to Him, we will gain an eternal reward.
Everything ends with a PAYOFF - God rewards us with the biggest paycheck we could ever imagine… A home with Him.
But, in between the promise and the payoff is the PROCESS. And the process is the point.
From the moment you hear the promise until the moment you receive the payoff, you are living in the process. This is when God Calls you. This is when you have the opportunity to embrace the purpose for which God created you.
But, make this absolutely clear… God has created you for a purpose and He loves you enough to resource you with what you need for your purpose. But that doesn’t mean your CALLING will be any easier than anyone else’s. Your Calling will demand from you just like Peter’s and Paul’s and Stephen’s and Timothy’s.
As many amazing leaders as the Church has, there are countless more that will never lead because they are too lazy to engage the work and they are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice.
As you listen for your Calling, remember… Anything worth doing is going to demand something from you.
Don’t miss your Call because it’s “too hard!”
There is one universal truth about every single person’s Calling… It will change something – everything – in your life.
When I first felt God Calling me to be a preacher, I knew my life would never be the same. Simply put, preachers don’t work at normal jobs with normal hours or normal pay scales. On top of that, I knew I would be going to a different church than I’d grown up in and I knew I’d likely be moving away from my family. I knew I’d live and serve with people that loved me one day and hated me the next, but would very probably like me again the next day. I knew it would demand sacrifices from me, my wife and my family.
As the implications of my Calling settled in, I realized that EVERYTHING would be changing and I had to decide if I was more committed to the comfort I loved or to the promise I’d given to the God I loved.
The sad fact is, comfort and complacency stop more Kingdom servants from answering the Call than anything else Satan has ever come up with.
When well-intentioned, good-hearted, God-loving people start adding up the pros and cons of answering the Call, it quickly becomes evident that things WILL change. And so many people walk away, unwilling or unable to face a different future, giving Satan yet another small victory.
Don’t let comfort or complacency come between you and the Call! Be confident that the future God is offering is ultimately better than anything you’ve built for yourself.
The #1 hurdle to answering God’s Call is fear of failing miserably for the whole world to see. The first time I clearly felt God’s Call on my life, I was terrified that I didn’t have what it took. I was terrified that I would fail God and I was terrified that I would let down His whole Church.
I don’t know why but for some reason, we have a built in assumption that everything we do has incredible, life-and-death implications and if we don’t do it exactly right, the world will end and we’ll be punished for all eternity.
But get this… You’re not as big a deal as you think you are.
God isn’t asking you for perfect execution of an impossible task and He’s not expecting you to do anything He didn’t create you to do.
I have to remind myself all the time that God called David to kill a lion before he killed a giant and He called Peter to feed hungry people before he baptized 3,000 on Pentecost.
Sure, there are life-and-death Callings, but those are always proceeded by a Call to be faithful and trustworthy servants in small things.
If you’re terrified you’re not qualified to step up to the plate God has called you to, it’s time to look in the mirror and remind yourself that your Creator and Caller cares deeply for you and would never consider you expendable.
Acts 4:29
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
If you want to see the Kingdom sweep over your family/neighbors/co-workers you need to…
The next time you’re scared or threatened or confused, don’t pray for help or for the problem to go away. Instead, ask God for even more boldness to proclaim His Name.
January’s been a great month! We launched Soma and we’ve seen God do some incredible things in our community!
It’s been a great month on the blog as well… In case you missed them, here are the top ten most popular posts for January 2012. Interestingly enough, a few of them weren’t written in January, with #8 being almost a year old and # 4 being from 2010. Hope you enjoy these…
Bonus (my favorite unranked post) – God’s Most Foolish Idea… (1/24/12)
*****
This would be a great time to take advantage of the opportunity to have this blog show up in your email or on your RSS reader. Just use one of the options at the top right hand corner of the page and you’ll be sure to not miss the rest of what’s to come!
1 Thessalonians 1,5-7
Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.
You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
Paul, Silas and Timothy loved the people in Thessalonica. They became ONE OF the people in Thessalonica. They immersed themselves in the muck of the culture and lived like a shining beacon, pointing to the heart of the Father.
The people of Thessalonica were so impressed with the character of the three men that they began to imitate what they saw. They began to imitate the heart of God, as it transferred through Paul, Silas and Timothy.
The people of Macedonia and Achaia took notice of the wave of momentum building as the Kingdom took root in the hearts and lives of the community. And the example of Paul, Silas and Timothy continued to spread.
Three men imitated the incarnation by living a holy life in a broken culture and an unstoppable movement began in a new place. They went far beyond simply being FOR the people… They didn’t stop at simply being WITH the people… They committed to life of being ONE OF the people.
THAT’S HOW DISCIPLES ARE MADE AND THAT’S HOW THE KINGDOM SPREADS.
What culture are you committed to being ONE OF? What community are you standing in, empathizing with and living for? And who is standing with you?
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)
