Category Archives: Encouragement

Encouragement

Are You Overconfident in Your “Sinlessness?”

Have you robbed a bank or committed adultery lately?  Have you committed murder or been arrested for a DUI?  Do you lie to your boss about the hours you work or help yourself to the petty cash kept on hand?  These are all examples of “big” or obvious sins and when you and I walk through life for a long time not committing any of these acts but reading about others who do, we can become numb to our own sinfulness.  I know I can.  We might even be lulled into thinking we’re actually a pretty good, sin-free believer.

But wait just a minute.  Has everything you’ve said recently been 100% the truth without minimizing or exaggeration?  Have you stolen from your employer by checking your Facebook account three or four times a day?  Did you correct the store clerk when he made a mistake in your favor?  Have you thought any thoughts today that are less than honorable?  Sin is falling short of God’s ideal and desire for us and unless we actually catch that shortcoming and repent of our wrongdoing we are overconfident in ourself.  Remember that overconfident disciple who said he would never deny his Lord and a few short hours later claimed to not even know Him?  Jesus gave His life for the obvious and the not so obvious sin.  “Lord, help us to see both and respond to You quickly.”

The word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing souls and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4: 12, 16)  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other… (James 5:16)

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Encouragement, Leadership

Finishing the Year with Vision for 2014

The year 2013 is about to come to a close.  What were your highlights from this past year?  Do they out number the lows?  It’s easy to be thankful for the highlights, but a bit tougher to “give thanks in all things” for the lows.  Someone said if you get your eyes on what you feel God hasn’t done, you’ll lose your thankfulness, but if you keep your eyes and heart on what God has done you’ll maintain a heart of praise and a spirit of joy.

Before we enter 2014, I want to encourage you to take some time to evaluate 2013 and consider what you have learned, how you have grown as a person, what did you needlessly worry about, what financial decisions were right and which ones were wrong, how did you do with dating your spouse and children, and perhaps consider what you would have done differently now that you have the hindsight?  Then turn the corner and ask God for the vision He has for you in 2014.  What three or four goals would you like to see accomplished spiritually, emotionally, educationally, financially and physically?  Consider writing down the vision along with steps to take in order to reach your vision.  When you come to the end of 2014, you’ll have more to rejoice about as you discover many of the goals written twelve months earlier are accomplished.

Write down the vision and make it plain on tablets…  (Habakkuk 2:2)

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Encouragement, Prayer

Ending the Year With Forgiveness

Throughout 2013 you and I experienced perhaps numerous disappointments, letdown and unmet expectations.  We had opportunity to respond in anger, pick up an offense, grow cold toward someone or simply pretend it never happened.  How we responded or reacted was up to us.  In thinking back over the year 2013, I had one of the most personally challenging and difficult life situations.  Some days I felt freedom and many other days I felt defeated, unable to change the situation.  I know it affected me emotionally and it affected my thinking.  While I guess I’ve had a lifetime to prepare for such situations, I found myself very unprepared and trying to find some sanity in it all.  I forced myself to spend more time in God’s word and in prayer looking for answers (the opposite of what my flesh wanted to do).

After months of this turmoil, I read two verses of scripture that helped me immensely.  Of course I’ve read them many times before, but for that morning they were brand new once again – written just for my specific situation.  Colossians 3:13 & 14 state, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”  The lesson?  As we look back over 2013 there is so much to be thankful for and there is so much to forgive yourself and others for.  Do not carry un-forgiveness, anger, offenses or a cold heart into 2014.  It will only hurt you.

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Encouragement, Prayer

Jesus is the Best at Everything

This past summer I was talking to a friend in New Zealand and he had an apartment to sell in Auckland.  Another friend was telling me of an upside down house investment he had and needed to sell the home as soon as possible.  While in Barbados this year, a businessman told me he had to sell a 37-foot fishing boat.  Someone else had shared with me about a legal issue they were in the middle of.   Still another told me about a need to purchase a home.  One young man was sharing about his need and desire for a wife and ministry partner.  As well, a young married woman was sharing with me about her need for marriage counseling.

My answer was similar in each and every situation.  Jesus is the best banker, the best real estate agent, the best salesperson, an amazing lawyer, a matchmaker since Genesis two and one of His names is The Counselor.  Christian Mingle or Match.com cannot possibly do what Jesus does in finding a life mate even though one in five singles are now finding relationships on-line.  His bank will never run dry of funds.  He owns the cattle on a thousands hills.   And, speaking of real estate, He owns it all!  His law degree is not from Harvard, but He created law and government.  Jesus is not only the Christ child, the Son of Man and Savior, He IS the answer.  Check out James chapter four, verse two.

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Encouragement, Mission Report

Addis Ababa and Other Such Places (Part I)

Addis Ababa, ever been there?  Me neither, with one exception.  Over a week ago my plane landed there (Ethiopia) after twelve hours at 39,000 feet.  Sitting at the gate for my next flight to Kampala, Uganda I do not recognize a single word around me.  Foreign has a way of taking on even more foreign when the sites, smells, dress, heat and language are unrecognizable.  One can feel a bit insecure, anxious and excited all at the same time, but it’s another day in the kingdom of God full of anticipation.   It becomes a reality that my security is not found in where I am or whom I am with.  Native faces turn with each passing white face, while comments follow.  I find myself imagining that the conversation is about where this “foreign” person is headed on this African continent.

Vacation it is not.  I am here to serve the DOVE International family in the nation of Uganda.  The leaders have requested that I come to share on principles of marriage.  My prayer has been, “Lord, help me to be sensitive culturally, while at the same time remaining biblical.”  Further, “Help me to humbly remember that I am a foreign guest.”  While I do not desire to offend in any way culturally, worse would be to stray biblically.  I truly believe that God’s word transcends culture.  I am so pleased, so honored to have this opportunity before me.  “Foreign” is a feeling that every believer should feel on this earth anywhere they live or travel.  The Scriptures reveal that we are simply passing through this world into the next one.  If we begin to feel too comfortable, maybe we’ve become too familiar with our surroundings and our too normalized life.  Perhaps it’s time to ask your heavenly Father for an assignment that feels insecure, uncomfortable, stretching and foreign.  It’ll grow your faith and trust in Him.

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Encouragement, Training

Don’t Believe Half of What You Think

Several weeks ago I was in the state of Oregon and I saw a bumper sticker, which read, “Don’t believe half of what you think.”  I am unclear as to what the driver meant by this sticker, but I was certainly hoping that he was thinking clearly and believing that safe driving is the only option.   I really liked what this particular bumper sticker had to say.  There seems to be some truth to it.  Romans 12: 2 actually tells us to be transformed by a mind that is being renewed.  That word, “renew” in the Greek is, Anakainoisis.  It means to adjust the moral and spiritual vision and thinking toward the mind of God, which is actually designed to have a transforming effect upon one’s life.

There is this old nature in us that seems to be at war with our new nature.  Our old nature likes to get its own way through anger, rage, selfishness, manipulation, impurity, etc.  In actuality we are to starve this nature to death and not feed it…put it off as Colossians three tells us.  I have discovered that it is God’s nature to give us something new (better) instead.  For example, if my grandson picks up a sharp object I will remove and replace it with something that is not dangerous to him.  Salvation is regeneration, all things becoming new.  The process is growing in truth as Christ’s Spirit in our spirit teaches our mind a new reality.  A battle that can be won.  In the movie, First Knight, Lancelot said something about battle that applies to this fight.

  1. Anticipate your enemy’s move – be thinking ahead of him.
  2. In every battle there is a turning point – wait and watch for it.
  3. Don’t be concerned about dying – it’s what we’re called to.
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Encouragement, Leadership

A Listening Challenge

I was talking to a young man recently, maybe 27 or 28 years old.  He had multiple piercings and quite a few visible tattoos that did not represent positive themes.  His cloths were a bit too large, which I did not perceive to be a fashion statement.  Further, he was in need of deodorant.  I went up to him and asked him about his life story and what his dream is.  This young man took off with a plethora of words about a successful music career in Hollywood, CA with many “rock stars,” one of them being him.  He, further into the conversation, said he lived in Nashville, TN where he was a “country music sensation” dropping some well-known names.  At another time in the conversation, he told me he spent two and a half years incarcerated in Florida, on “false charges” of course.

As I was listening, I found myself thinking about what might be truth and what might not be.  I was wondering about his reality.  I was captivated by his incessant desire to be someone of worth and value, someone famous.  When we are attentive in our listening, we are making a statement that the one speaking is important.  It could have been easy to be distracted or simply want to move away from this person, but Jesus would have listened intently.  Jesus would have cared about his personal story even if it were fabricated.  Jesus would have given him every minute he needed without judgment.  And then He would have posed a pointed question like, “Do you know how much I love you with or without worldly success?”  Or, He might have said, “The kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy.”  How can I be more like Jesus today and who needs my listening ear without my judgement?

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Encouragement, Leadership

Being Human and Temptation (Part II)

In part one we said that a temptation is an appeal made upon a weakness within you.  Temptation is not wrong; we all have them.  Temptation is satan’s way of pulling you away from God thoughts, an unhealthy distraction from the focus of obeying your heavenly Father.  Even if it lasts only seconds, you still need to face it scripturally and not simply avoid it or wait until it seems to have passed because you know it will return with a vengeance.  I Corinthians 10: 13 tells us that God makes a way of escape from temptations.  What are those ways?

First, identify the weak area(s).  Acknowledge them, be accountable with them, pray over them and seek healing through the work of the Holy Spirit.  If you take the weakness out of the dark and bring it into the light, you give the enemy less to work with.  Be honest before God about them, confessing to Him your weak areas.  Next, study yourself, listen to your self-talk and discover when you are most susceptible to listening to the enemy’s voice.  For me, I have learned that it is when I am physically and emotionally spent.  Then ask yourself if any life changes are necessary in order to be less susceptible.  I had to discover just how much sleep I actually needed on a daily basis.  Further, I had to recognize and acknowledge personal stress areas rather than be in denial of them.  Lastly, keep inviting Holy Spirit into the process to show you areas of healing still needed within your soul.

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Encouragement

Being Human and Temptation (Part I)

We know the enemy of our soul is a liar, a manipulator and masterful at deception.  From the time he was cast upon the earth, he has attempted to cause us to miss the mark and disappoint our Lord.  Amazingly, he doesn’t seem to let up.  He waits for the perfect time, a time when you are physically exhausted, feeling down mentally or emotionally and/or exasperated with life.  He seems to know when you are most susceptible to his slithering alongside you to whisper a half-truth in your ear.   It might be in the middle of a time of fasting or prayerful concern over a loved one.  It could be that you are experiencing a physical disorder or family life disruption that feels bigger than life itself.  I can almost guarantee that it will be when you least expect it, with your guard down – a total surprise.

It’s a trap and he’s setting you up.  The bait is hanging out in front of you and you’re not thinking correctly, you’re unprepared.  Temptation is an appeal made upon a weakness within you.  That weakness may not even be clearly identified, but it is there or, at the very least, lying dormant.  The enemy wants to resurrect it and defeat you with something you were unprepared to face at the moment you had to face it.  It is a stealth attempt to tap into that weak area, not wanting you to recognize what is happening.  It is blindsiding you, coming from an unexpected direction or angle.  If you allow its pull, you’ll be sucked in before you know it.  It will go from temptation to sin quicker than lighting striking during an electric storm.  In part two, let’s take a closer look at overcoming the evil one’s temptation.

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Encouragement, Small Groups, Training

The Law of Attribution II

Last week we gave a clear example of the law of attribution in someone’s life.  Did you think of any examples from your own life?  When we believe something to be stress producing, it will be.  I have been in many traffic jams and find it rather amusing as I look around at the different reactions among drivers.  One driver is visibly frustrated and on their phone, another on their GPS trying to find an alternative route, others are yelling at someone in the car or at no one and still another is just sitting there calmly reading a book.  What is the difference between the one yelling and the one reading?  It’s the same traffic jam.  No one is going anywhere and yet one is enjoying the moment and another is steaming with anger.  That which we attribute to be stress producing will be.

Is there an answer to this dilemma?  Romans 8:15 says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.”  Jesus never feared the storm.  In fact, He even slept through one in the bottom of a boat.  I love Psalm 112:7 which says, “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”  Why?  Verse eight tells us, “His heart is secure, he will have no fear…” We make the choice to be in fear, in anxiety or stress.  When we do so, we are saying that our issue is too big for God to handle or be concerned with.  And that thought, my friend, is full of pride.

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