Week Twenty-Six - Don't Get So Hung Up

Often, we read statements and accept them without thinking of their meaning. For example, we looked at trust your heart several weeks ago. It sounds good, but it contradicts the Bible's truth. Another phrase we accept, but Jesus never commended, is You deserve to be happy. You won't find that in the Bible, either. We all prefer to feel happy, but happiness is not a Bible quality. The Bible gives us joy, which is considerably different and much deeper than any fleeting happiness. 

I read an interesting quote by Michael Marshall highlighting another of these well-intended statements: "You need to find your identity."

According to Psychology Today, finding one's identity involves discovering and developing one's potential, choosing one's life's purpose, and finding opportunities to exercise that potential and purpose. 

That sounds good, and doing those things is wise, but we miss a significant component of life if we only use what we do or accomplish to define our identity. What I do is not who I am. I am more than a writer, more than a Christian worker, more than my job description, aren't you?

When you go home at night, do you continue thinking of yourself in terms of your job? Do you carry on with the same motivation and attitude as at work? Or do you relax and return to being yourself- the self outside your job description?

Another definition of identity states that it is not static. It is a dynamic concept that changes throughout life, with time, and through your struggles. I'd agree. I'm not the same person I was in my teen years or even in my 30s. But I'm still me, with all my insecurities, fears, and personality traits. How about you?

So, that definition doesn't help much, either.

Here's the thing: we can search to find our identity, but we still struggle to define it because it differs for each of us. We have a variety of sides because we are complex creatures with moral qualities, spiritual needs, varying levels of intellect, and social strata. Yet we desire to understand ourselves, define who we are, why we are here, and where we are going.

It may be time for you to read the quote that prompted my thoughts. Michael Marshal writes, 

"Modern man is hung up on his identity. The Christian realizes that his true identity is a mystery known only to God and that any attempt at this stage on the road of discipleship to define himself is bound to be blasphemous and destructive of that mysterious work of God forming Christ in him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, the Christian does not define his identity by his actions; that is the very ultimate in anti-Christ, for it is in effort saying that I am my own creator."

Let's unpack that a bit.

We are a mystery known only to God. How true. We cannot discover our hearts. As Paul puts it in Romans, we try to do good but fail miserably. But God knows our hearts, and He is at work in our lives to bring us to Christlikeness. We step outside our authority and ability when we try to unravel this mystery or define ourselves through actions. We have been bought with a price. We no longer define ourselves by ourselves, but our identity is intrinsically bound in Christ. He becomes our identity. We belong to Him.

I don't know about you, but this takes loads of pressure off my life. I don't have to "become" anything or "be" anyone because I am already a child of God. No need to figure anything else out because I now live by faith in Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

So, let's not get so hung up on who we are that we overlook the beauty of who He is and what He is doing in us. Let's rest ourselves in the Bible's definition of identity and keep moving forward into Christlikeness.

Galatians 2:20 reads, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." That sounds like a healthy place to start.

Week Twenty Five - Delightfully

One of the first verses that meant anything to me was Psalm 37:4, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart." I took this promise to heart, and I can tell you that God keeps His promises. He has given me more than my heart could have ever imagined because I chose to take Him at His word. I set Him to be my delight.

Spurgeon took this verse as a subject of one of his devotions, writing, "The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and those who merely profess faith never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity but never pleasure or delight."

When I read his devotion, I had to stop and think about this. Are there people who think it is a waste of time to serve the Lord? Yes. Are there people who believe you have lost your mind when you speak of all God has done for you? Yes. Are there people who see the church as demeaning, demanding, or brainwashing? Yes. Are there Christians who begrudge service, withhold, and resist the leading of the Lord? Yes.

To them, Spurgeon says, "The thought of delight in religion is so strange that no two words in their language stand further apart than "holiness" and "delight." They do not equate the two together.

And yet, those who know the Lord and choose to accept the promise of Psalm 37:4 understand the blessed unity. Those who love God with all their hearts find His ways pleasant and His paths peaceful. For all the joys, delights, and blessings the saints discover in their Lord, Spurgeon says, "that so far from serving Him from custom, they would follow Him though all the world cast out His name as evil."

To the child of God, there is no coercion. Our faith is not a fetter, bondage, or duty. It is a joy. There is joy in serving Jesus, delightful joy. Spurgeon says, "Our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight."

Dear friend, how do you view Christianity? Do you know joy? Do you delight yourself in the Lord? Do you serve Him willingly? Is He your source of contentment and purpose? That is the only way you can claim the promise of this verse. "He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." It's like a blank cheque, an golden opportunity, or a limitless blessing for those who love God and delightfully serve Him. 

Where is your delight?

Week Twenty-Four - Dad in the Shadows

Clint Clifton wrote, The man who draws the curtain for a theater performance "hides away in the dark so he doesn't distract your attention from the stage. If he has done his job properly, he presents the stage while standing out of the spotlight. Likewise, if your ministry is fruitful, Jesus will stand center stage while you are hidden in the shadows."

He's talking about the minister, but today, let's think about this in relation to the father. One of the major components of good fathering is the ability to bestow power on the children, enabling them to succeed. This is not so much done by the father succeeding as by his ability to equip and encourage his children to find their path. 

Think for a moment of all the great people you know from history. For how many of them can you name their fathers? 

For example, take George Washington. Do you think he learned truth and perseverance on his own? What about Benjamin Franklin? Who was his father? Have you ever heard of him? His name was Josiah Franklin, a British candle and soap maker with 17 children. But he did such a good job raising Benjamin that we have the privilege of his wisdom leading in establishing the USA and forming our constitution.

What about Billy Graham's father? He was a North Carolina dairy farmer who almost lost everything in the Great Depression but managed to slowly recover and leave his son a legacy of faith, hard work, and determination. God used Billy Graham's father's behind-the-scenes prayers and wisdom to raise a young man fit for the Master's use.

As we approach Father's Day, it is a good time for us to consider what our fathers have done to help us, teach us good work ethics and honesty, and pave the way for our success.

Dads in the shadows are to be honored and valued. Very few of us will become historical characters, but our histories are intrinsically linked to a good father's faithfulness, love, and parenting. Maybe you'd like to take him out of the shadows this Father's Day and put him on the stage! Tell him how much you appreciate him, recognize his personal sacrifice, and his continued love and encouragement. A good dad in the shadows is a treasure.

Week Twenty-Three - One

Dr. Ken Liles lent me David Platt's book Something Needs to Change. In it, Platt challenges our complacent Christianity by sharing his trip to the Himalayas. He addresses what it means to follow Jesus in a world filled with urgent and heartbreaking physical and spiritual needs. 

When I read, I often copy good quotes or things that speak to my heart. One such quote was a phrase: "turning tears into tactics." Platt was challenged not simply to feel sad about the situations he saw but to turn those tears into ways or tactics to meet the needs of the people who so touched his heart.

The situations he experienced were heart-rendering. Children tied in barns because they were disabled, young girls sold into sexual slavery, people martyred for coming to Christ, inadequate medical care, and poverty beyond description. All of these are so far outside our Western everyday reality that we can barely imagine the darkness in which these people live.

But the one thing I took from the books was a discussion on Luke 15, the importance of one. As you read Luke 15, you find three stories: The lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost or wayward son. In the case of the first two stories, someone went looking. The shepherd left the ninety-and-nine to search for and find the one lost sheep. In the case of the lost coin, the woman diligently searches and cleans her house until the coin is found.

In the final story, we read about the prodigal son, who left his father to lead a life full of sin. And while we don't see the father going out to retrieve him, we see the father waiting with great anticipation for the day his son would return. This one son meant the world to him.

David Platt wrote, "God is passionate about finding the one." And how beautiful is that thought? God will search for us and wait for us with passionate anticipation.

But then, Platt wrote, "There's really only one thing worse than being lost. What's worse is being lost when no one is trying to find you."

Oh, dear friend, do you understand that statement? What if you were the one living high in the Himalayan mountains, with no access to the Gospel, never having heard of the man Jesus, and dying without ever knowing God loved you? And no one. No one was coming to tell you. No one even thought about you being there. They were not trying to bring you the Gospel.

Millions of people worldwide are in this same situation. They may not all be living in such dire situations, but they are all lost, and few—very few—are out searching for them. And that, David Platt says, needs to change. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Surely, our lives would be best spent doing the same.

Do you know someone who needs to hear the Gospel and experience God's love? Will you be the one to tell them?

What if God called you to leave your comfortable Western life to take the story of God's love to those who have never heard? Would you go?

What if you were the one no one was looking for? Does that not motivate you to share your faith? It does me!