A Minute In It - Different But One

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then answer the questions at the bottom of the post.

1-3 In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

4-6 You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness.

7-13 But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. Ephesians 4:1-13 (MSG)

What stands out to you in this text?
At what speed does Paul say we should respond to God’s calling?
When God calls us, does that calling ever involve not loving each other?
How should we love each other?
Do we all need to look and act the same?
Why or why not?

Good Morning Church!

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. Acts 2:42-44 (NLT)

Good Morning Church! You know, I’ve sat in churches for years and heard those words spoken from the front. I never really stopped to think about it but lately, I’ve been thinking about this more.

When someone says “Look, a church”, we think about a building. We turn our gaze expecting to see brick and mortar of some sort. But when God talked about a church, he talked about people. All different, each one bringing different things to the table to share, each one knowing God in his own way and growing the Kingdom according to what God has given him.

How would our world change if when we heard “Look, a church” we looked for people. What would it be like if we understood the church to be us. We spend so much money and time building buildings to honor God, what would happen if we spent time building each other up instead? Would God be glorified and honored more if we treated each other as sacredly as we treated our buildings?

When I sit in church and someone from the front says “Good Morning, Church!”, I want to jump up and down and say “That’s us! That’s me! We are the church! I am the church! I want in my core to remember that it is God’s people who will make a difference for his Kingdom, not the lifeless building on the corner. What about you? Are you willing to be the church?

Safe By The Fire

So they arrested him and led him to the high priest’s home. And Peter followed at a distance.  Luke 22:54 (NLT)

Peter had spent a lot of time with Jesus. Jesus spent more time with Peter, James and John than the rest of the twelve. Peter knew him and he knew him well. He’d seen him heal people. He’d seen him raise someone from the dead. He’d heard him talk about God and his mission and he knew the depth of the love that Jesus had for him.

Yet, when Jesus was arrested, Peter was afraid. The Bible says he followed at a distance. He joined a crowd by the fire and tried to blend in. He didn’t want to stand out. He didn’t want to be noticed. What he wanted was to be near enough to know what was going on but not engaged enough to be at risk.

When the people around the fire directly asked him questions about who he knew, he denied it. After all, admitting that he was a Christ follower could have consequences. There would be a ripple effect, fallout and possibly a sacrifice he was not willing to make.

Let me ask you. How often do we act like Peter? In our world of conforming and fitting in, do we shy away from being different? Do we try to walk the middle line and not stand out? Do we hide our convictions so as to not draw attention to ourselves?

God wants us to be all in. He wants us to take a stand and do what is right. He wants us to be so in love with him that we are willing to take a risk and say “Yes!” to his calling.

What about you? Are there areas in your life that you need to define more clearly? Are there areas where God is calling you to take a risk? Will you walk away from the crowd by the fire and be different?

Minute In It - Letting Go

A minute in Gods' word will change your life.  Read through the Bible text and ask yourself the questions at the bottom of the post.

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. Matthew 19:16-22 (NLT)

What did the rich, young ruler want from Jesus?
When Jesus told him to go and sell everything he had, why was the rich, young ruler sad?
Why did the rich, young ruler leave without doing what God asked him to do?
Would you sell everything you had, give it to the poor and follow Jesus?
Maybe money isn’t your thing, what in your life would you want to hold on to if Jesus asked you to let it go?
Is there anything in your life that is keeping you from a closer walk with God?

I Want A Double Portion Please

When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.”
And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”
“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”
As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. 2 Kings 2:9-11 (NLT)

Elisha did get to see Elijah being carried away. And he went on to inherit a double portion of Elijah's spirit. But there is a part to this story that I didn't pick up on in the past.

As they were walking along, three times Elijah stopped in different towns and three times told Elisha to stay. Elisha said "No, thank you. I am in this til the end." And he kept on walking. Imagine if Elisha had stopped at any of those towns. He wouldn't have received the gift of God's Spirit that was waiting for him.

There were prophets at every town. None of them followed. They were content to stay where they were and do what they were doing. Elisha was not. Elisha wanted all of what God was offering to him. He wanted to experience all of his calling so he pressed on. He kept moving forward.

How many times do we stop before what God wants for us is realized? How many times to we wait for something huge to happen instead of following what we already know we should do?

What is God calling you to do today? Have you stopped short of the final destination?

Your One Life

Whatever work you do, do your best, because you are going to the grave, where there is no working, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom. Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NCV)

Recently, I got to attend a church planting event. The presenters were people who God had called in some way to share who He is with people.  Any people.  People in their community, people in their town, state, and yes, world....whatever!  I was truly blessed by the men and women whose passion is doing whatever it is God puts in their path. 

One of the presenters asked "What is God going to say happened with your one life?"

Made me think a minute......or actually for many minutes. God may not be calling me to be involved with a world-wide movement. He may not even be calling me to be a city-wide movement. But he is calling me.  He is calling every single one of us to something.

Everyone's calling is unique to them. God does not call any two people to the same thing. You know why? Because he uses you in your own skin. He uses you where you are. So let me ask you....

What is God calling you to do?  What Big Dream has he put on your heart? What will you do with the one life you have? My prayer is that I use this one life in such a way that when I see God face to face that he will say "Well Done!"

The Great Adventure

Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!” Acts 16:25-28 (NLT)

Paul and Silas were in prison, shackled with huge ankle chains. They had just been severely beaten. There are a couple of things that made me say "What?" as I read this. The first amazing thing was they were praying and singing. So I can kind of get that. You are in prison, shackled; it is conceivable that as a Christian you would go to God. What I find completely astounding is what happened after the earthquake. They stayed put! Here you are, singing and praying - I'm assuming they would be praying for their release right? There is an earthquake so violent the doors fly open and the shackles break free from your ankles. Wouldn't you see that as a sign from God that you should get out of there? I would think "Look! God answered our prayers. Let's go." But they didn't.

The next verse says that after the jailer realized they were still there he said "Tell me about this God you serve." I am sure he was thinking "You are different because of him." And he'd be right. What would motivate two men to risk death or at a minimum another beating just to save this man? Paul talks about it throughout the New Testament.

Paul met Jesus, he was convicted that he was the Messiah and he knew he was called to participate in this Great Adventure. In 2 Corinthians 5 he explains some things that give us a clue as to his mindset. In 2 Corinthian 5:13 he says "I know we may seem crazy but it is for God's glory." He knows that the things he does sounds nuts - like staying in a prison when you should be running - but he is living out his passion. He also says that since Jesus died for everyone and people who say yest to that invitation no longer live for themselves. Instead they live for Christ. And everyone is so important that we stop looking at each other from a human perspective but see people from a God perspective. (vs 15-16) He goes on to say that now our job is to show people who Jesus was and to reintroduce them to God. We are God's ambassadors. We are here to help people grow in their relationship with God. (v 18-20)

Paul very clearly knew what his mission in life was. It is the same mission we all share. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, our calling is to share Jesus and love others so passionately that we will even be willing to sacrifice ourselves for it. I know that last statement ruffles some feathers. It is not our nature to put ourselves last and others first. But God says we should and Jesus did. It takes a relationship to be able to get there. The Great Adventure we are called to is not normal. It is not logical. But it is the Adventure of a lifetime. Nothing else will compare. And as Paul says "We may seem crazy but it is for God's glory." Let the Adventure begin!

Opportunity Knocks!

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ Matthew 25:24-25 (NLT)

The story of the talents is the story of a Master who gave three servants an opportunity to use a gift he'd given them. To the first servant he gave 5 talents (375 pounds) of silver. To the second servant he gave two (150 pounds) and to the third servant he gave one (75 pounds).

When he returned, the first and second servants had worked the gift they were given and grown it. The third buried it. You have to wonder what he might have been thinking. Did he say "Well, they got so much and I got so little, whatever I do with it won't matter." or "I don't know much about this sort of thing, I'll just keep what I have." or "Man, this is scary and risky. I am afraid so I'll take the safe route." The Bible doesn't tell us all the things going through his mind but it does say he blamed it on his fear of the Master.

Made me wonder....what gift has God given me that I am not using because of fear? Really, most of the excuses we come up with have to do with fear. Here are some:

• That is not my strength (which is often heard as "That's not my gift.") That sounds like a fear of everything. What does that mean? If God has given you the opportunity, he will give you what it takes to do it.
• I don't know how. I have used this one. Not only did I not know how, I was not trying to know how either. Could this be the "lazy" Jesus calls out in the parable?
• It is too risky. This could be translated as "I am really comfortable with my life right now and I don't want to risk losing anything." Do we honestly think what we currently hold is better than what God has in mind?

I wish I could say I was beyond reproach when it comes to using the opportunities God has placed before me. I know I am not. What drives most of us is fear. Most of us have a healthy dose of it and it controls us. Each one of us could look at what we've been given, identify where we are not using it as God intended and be the servant with one talent.

I don't want to be that servant. I want to be the servant with the 5 talents that used them all! I want to hear Jesus say "You did good. I am proud of you." WOW! Can you imagine? But, in order to do that, I have to place my fear aside and say "Yes, Lord." whenever he calls. I need to remember that it's not my abilities that will make this successful, but his power.

How about you? What are you afraid of? Can you get past it and embrace the opportunity God is giving you so you too can hear "Well Done!"?