“I have been crucified with Christ.” Those
are the words used in the NIV version of Galatians 2:20 …not literally and not
possible. We were not there and neither was the Apostle Paul who wrote the
statement. So what did He mean?
In every book or study guide we read on
Galatians we find just as many explanations of the statement. They all get to
just about the same place, however I ran across one that, for me, gives a
better understanding of the passage.
“I have crucified my right to self-control in
life, in the same way that Christ was crucified physically. He gave His right
to physical life; I gave up my right to self-life.” (Holman New Testament Commentary.)
"God created me - and you - to live with a simple all-embracing, all-transforming passion -- namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying His supreme excellence in all the spheres of life."
“If you
don’t care for yourself you can’t do anything else.” Michael Hyatt
That
statement was made by Michael Hyatt at a luncheon sponsored by Backstage
Leadership during Catalyst 09. The question posed that received the above as a
response was: “Michael do you have a set of personal core values that are the
foundation for how you live your life and then in turn help you set goals for
your business life?”
Michael
began to explain that he had posted some of this information in a previous post
on his blog but the basics were:Put God
first, yourself second, then spouse and family, and finally everything
else.
It might
seem odd to think of putting yourself above your spouse or your family;
however, I totally understand and agree with his philosophy. I believe that God
expects us to take care of ourselves, to become the best vessel for Him. I
often hear persons in my line of work say: ‘if I take care of the spiritual and
mental side of my life, God will take care of the rest.’ There is something
terribly wrong with that statement. Our body, our total being, is a gift from
God; therefore, we are responsible for the stewardship of this gift.
To be an
effective leader we must first be healthy: spiritually, mentally and
physically. To be effective at anything we must be healthy…totally healthy.
We often dream about the
future, well at least I do. I guess it has to do with my personality. Ask my
assistant and she will tell you I don’t sit behind my desk for any long length
of time. I have to get up and move, move on to the next thing or just get up
and see what is going on.The same is
true with life in general; I am always dreaming about what is next.
It is okay to dream and in
fact God let’s us in on stories of some great dreamers in His story the Bible.
One prayer that has been
stuck in my head the last few weeks is: God
let my dreams (desires) be Your dreams (desires.) Does God see what I am
dreaming about today or the tomorrows and say: ‘that’s not quite what I want
Michael’ or can He say ‘yes that’s it, that’s where I want you to go.’ In 2
Chronicles chapter 6 we find this statement from God about David, a dreamer: ‘…you have done well to have this desire.’
Now that is a pretty cool statement. In the story of my life will God be able
to write a few words and include that statement. I sure hope so.
So what should we be
dreaming about?
Here is a statement I
heard many years ago: ‘finding God’s will for you life is not a place you
arrive to, but the act of searching continually for His will.’ In the context
of what I have written today that means that it is okay to dream, but I must
search God’s heart and dream His dreams.
Isn’t it funny how God can
take something that we have done over and over again and change it to help us
refocus on His desires. Just recently He has been using the short prayer I
mentioned earlier along with the words from the song Hosanna by Brooke Fraser:
Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity
That’s what I want to
dream, that’s what I want to be: everything
I am for Your Kingdom’s cause…whatever that may be…so I keep dreaming.
There is a great glimpse of
worship found in the book of Isaiah Chapter 6
verses 1 – 8.The
passage is an example of a conversation of worship where God is seen and then
the worshipper responds.
In worship services today
we use songs and scriptures to see a picture of God. When we look close at His
attributes and then look to ourselves for comparison there really is none. Or
the comparison is so far at opposite ends of the spectrum that it is hard to
compare.That is exactly the response of
the writer of Isaiah 6; he sees
a vision of the Lord, Majestic and holy, and then cries out ‘woe is me.’
In the book Mere
Christianity by C.S. Lewis I found the following statement:
In God you
come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to
yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as
nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all.
It is hard to imagine that
God who is immeasurable invites us to be a part of His family.
It is hard to imagine that
God, who is holy, invites us to stand in His presence and worship.
This was my first year to attend the Catalyst conference and hopefully it will not be my last. The two days were packed with challenging presentations given by some of today's successful leaders from both business, religious and non-profit organizations. I will have more to say about these presentations in future posts.
Today I want to give you links to two events that took place at Catalyst 09. These events are polar opposites and evoke totally opposite responses.
The first video is of Professor Splash as he sets a new world record for diving into 12 inches of water.
The second video is even more impressive as we all got to witness Jimmy Wambua a student at Moody Bible College from Kenya meeting for the first time the person who was his Compassion sponsor.
Most of us have heard it said one time or the other ‘you
never have to worry about being caught in a lie if you always tell the truth.’
In these times of social networking that becomes even truer.As we use Social Networking tools we become
fully exposed. The caution is not with what we personally post but what those
who may witness our actions or hear our words may post. This change in how our
society interacts becomes another tool for Personal Accountability. So the old
saying could be changed for these times to read: “if you have nothing to hide
then it won’t get uploaded.”
Saturdays are just one day away from Sunday worship services;
however, we will be no closer to God tomorrow than any other day of the
week.What we often forget is that
Sunday worship services are a time when believers join together in worship but
they are not the only day of worship.If
we have a relationship with God then each personal act can become an action of
worship.
A part of the conversation of worship is the willingness to
listen to ‘the still small voice’ that whispers in our ear everyday. As with
any conversation, including the conversation of worship there are moments of
verbalizing our thoughts and then there are those moments when we listen. I
find that it is much easier to speak to God than listen to God. I also find
that the more time I give to active listening to God the more accustomed I
become to his voice. A. W. Tozer wrote in God's Pursuit of Man:
“We may be sure of one thing, that
for our deep trouble there is no cure apart from a visitation, yes, an invasion
of power from above. Only the Spirit Himself can show us what is wrong with us
and only the Spirit can prescribe the cure.”
Listening to the Spirit is something I must actively
practice. The more I am willing to listen, the more I am willing to act on what
‘the still small voice’ is saying.
I ask myself this question: “how often do I ignore the voice
of the Lord?” More that I should…but I am working on it.
It is Saturday again and in just a
few more hours many will gather in buildings around this country for worship
services.
I have to admit I live a very
comfortable life. God has graciously provided for my needs and a multitude of
my wants. The same can be said for most Americans. A quick inventory reveals we
have much more than the majority of the Earth’s population.
With that said I raise the
question: does our comfortable lifestyle and things make it hard for us to cry
out to God in worship?
·A small congregation of fifty that meets under a
large shade tree because they have no building.
·They work the land to provide the food they need
to survive.
·They rely on God for every mouthful.
·They have endured two decades of civil war,
every family has suffered loss
·Clean water is not available
·Most live on barely a dollar a day.
In the midst of this hardship the
author goes on to describe their worship:
·There is great joy in their worship as these
people cry out to the Lord and feel His comfort in the midst of their need.
·This small community comes together to worship
and to celebrate the gospel.
As Americans what will be our attitude
as we enter places of worship tomorrow? More importantly what will be my
attitude?Am I truly grateful for the
reality of a relationship with the One who has forgiven me? Am I so comfortable
with my life that I minimize the gift of grace?
God help me that I don’t become
too comfortable with the things you have provided to loose sight of the
salvation You have given by Your sacrifice.
I often wonder what the people, in the congregation where I serve, do to get ready for church. Growing up in a pastor’s home Sunday was a big deal, nothing kept us from church and not just once but two times on Sunday. As part of the preparation we laid out the ‘church clothes’ the night before; if the shoes needed polishing we did so; we went to bed early and most Saturday nights mom started preparing for Sunday dinner (lunch). I also remember my dad spending time in his bedroom or office going over his notes for the sermon he would deliver the next day. We were preparing to go to church.
Those are great memories but that is not the preparation that I am talking about.
Do people who attend worship services on Sundays come to worship prepared to meet God in a conversation of worship? Or is it just something they do to make them feel better and push the guilt aside for a few more days?
It is hard for me to start a meaningful conversation with anyone who I don’t know, who I haven’t had previous conversations. But it is much easier when I know the person.
The only way I know to prepare for the worship services on Sunday is having a conversation with God on a daily basis. Being in any type of relationship implies that there is this on-going conversation taking place where words are exchanged and actions noticed.
How do you prepare for church on Sunday? There is no better time to start than now!
