New Year Resolutions

We seem to have a love-hate relationship with New Year’s Resolutions.  We make them, break them, vow to never make them again, and then keep trying.  Some are specific like lose 10 pounds; some are general like give more or become a better person.  But all have one thing in common – a desire to improve ourselves and our lives.  To make a change for the better.

So why is it so hard to keep our resolutions, to make our changes stick?

I was reading in Matthew 22 this morning and the Lord showed me something interesting…

As usual, the religious and government leaders were trying to trap Jesus.  In 22:23-33 the Sadducees challenged Jesus about resurrection and eternal life.  They wanted to show just how ridiculous the idea was, so they gave Jesus riddle-like story about a woman who married, lost her husband before they had children, married his brother, and then the same thing happened down to the 7^th brother.  Who would she actually be married to in heaven? 

In verse 29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”  Then he went on to set the record straight.

So what does this have to do with New Year’s Resolutions? 

While Jesus is teaching specifically about resurrection and eternal life, what He says has much wider application.  The Sadducees were in error because they a) didn’t know Scripture and b) didn’t know the power of God.  They didn’t know what God’s Word said, nor did they believe He had the power to make it happen.

This made me think about my own “errors” – in my thinking, attitudes, ignorance, and behaviors.  Where do I fall short of God’s will for my life?  Where do I want to make changes?  See where I’m going? … I feel like Jesus is teaching us how to change and grow – New Year’s Resolution or not.

To make our changes stick we need to a) know Scripture, and b) know the power of God.

So how do we know Scripture?  First, we need to read and study regularly.  Even if it’s just 10-15 minutes a day, we need God’s Word like we need air, food, water…daily.  Second, we need to pray for guidance and revelation as we read.  God’s Word is alive.  You’ll be amazed at how it speaks to you if you read it with expectancy.  Third, we need to mediate on it, thinking about what we’ve read.  Let it sink in.  Plant it deep within your heart so that as it grows it changes the way we think, speak, or behave.  Trust that God’s Word is working even when the results aren’t immediately evident.  Knowing God’s Word will transform us, correcting errors and making positive changes in our lives.

So how do we know the power of God?  First, we need to read and study God’s Word regularly.  Yes, I’m repeating myself, but it’s the truth.  God’s Word is the primary way He speaks to us.  Read it like He’s talking directly to you, because He is.  Second, look for God’s power all around.  Expect it.  Notice it.  Don’t try to understand or explain everything based on our human limitations like the Sadducees were doing.  God’s power is everywhere – in His creation, provision, protection, miracles, and in the lives of His people.  Don’t let the world’s point of view render Him impotent or irrelevant.  Third, have faith when you can’t see God’s power in the given moment.  Trust that what He says is true.  This passage was specifically about resurrection and eternal life.  Something we can’t see, but know to be true.  Have faith knowing that God’s ways and timing are different than ours.

So what is your New Year’s Resolution?  What change or goal are you trying to accomplish? 

What does Scripture say about it?  What is God’s role in helping you achieve it?  Trust in both and you’ll be able to make that resolution stick!

Kicking But

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:28-29)

Jesus sent the disciples across the sea while he dismissed the crowd and went up the mountain to pray. In the wee hours of the morning, Jesus walked across the water to meet them. Thinking he was a ghost, the disciples panicked. (Ghost…really? That’s a whole other lesson)

As they cried out in fear, Jesus immediately reassured them saying “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27) Like the disciples, I too have moments of doubt when what I “see” around me seems more believable than what I “know” to be true, when faith dips and fear rises up in its place.

It took courage for Peter to tell Jesus to call him out on the water. It took faith to believe in what seemed naturally impossible. But as Peter put his courage and faith into action, obeying Jesus’ command, he walked on water.

He actually did it!

But…

Too often we move quickly to verse 30 to analyze what went wrong. After all, there are great lessons to be learned. Peter took his eyes off Jesus, saw the wind and waves around him, lost faith in the moment, and let fear take over.

Sure he sunk, but let’s camp a moment on the fact that Peter walked on water. He did the impossible. We know all things are possible through Christ. We hear it a lot, we say it a lot, but do we actually believe it?

Do you truly believe you can walk on water? Accomplish that seemingly impossible goal? Achieve that breakthrough in your life? Overcome that pattern of sin that seems to be just “how you were made”?

Prove it by getting out of the boat. Kick all those buts right out the door and take the step of faith Christ is telling you to. Don’t let your fear, over-thinking, or “practicality” trump your courage, faith and obedience.

Trust that Christ will provide, protect, and empower you. Trust also that He will catch you if you sink.

Will – not can.

Peter walked on water, and that invitation is there for all of us. Come.

Get Over It

The Lord has really been speaking to me about judgment, forgiveness and the condition of my own heart. Personality-wise I tend to be sensitive, observant, and a deep thinker; yet I do not show or share my emotions very easily. One result is that I tend to shrug off conflict, not out of discomfort or fear, rather because I consider being strong and “getting over it” as a virtue; especially as a leader.

Over the past several months, I’ve been “blessed” with a few occasions where I was judged falsely. Once that was annoying, once that was embarrassing and mildly painful, and once that down-right hurt. It’s as if the Lord is turning the heat on so that I look inward, truly forgive and heal (rather than shrugging it off), and ensure my own heart produces fruit that honors Him.

The theme for our recent Enrich conference was Forgiveness and Healing Hurts, and our guest speaker was Leon De Haan, president of Thrive Ministries International. His passion is for teaching and equipping Christian leaders, and it was such a blessing to have him with us!

As leaders, we’re in visible positions vulnerable to evaluation, criticism and judgment. Hopefully we’re surrounded by team members who are brothers and sisters in Christ, passionate about the vision, highly motivated and extremely competent. But along with these admirable qualities also comes the risk for stepped-on toes and stepped-on hearts.

As leaders, we’re also in the challenging position of having to evaluate others – monitoring results, holding people accountable, mentoring and coaching. So it’s critical that we a) recognize and deal with our own hurts, such as when we are judged, and b) not judge others in our efforts to “help”.

There is a difference between judging a person, and inspecting the condition of their fruit.

Judgment says we know why they did what they did; that we know the condition of their hearts. We may think that we do – we may even guess right – but the truth is that we don’t, and it’s not for us to decide (1 Cor 2:11). Judging keeps us remembering the offense, reopening the wound, and justifying our own actions or positions in our minds. This is exactly what Satan wants because it keeps us from forgiving, and from being released from the hurt, anger, bitterness, etc. It also brings judgment down on us (Matt 7:1-3).

As leaders we need to admit to God when we feel hurt, to trust Him as our Lord and Savior and also the keeper of our hearts. We need to receive his forgiveness and truly understand what it means. We need to stop judging others. And we need to exemplify forgiveness.

Our decisions, actions and words flow from our hearts (Matt 12:34-35). So our hearts must be healthy and whole in order to lead, preach, counsel, or serve effectively.

…this is what the Lord has been speaking to my heart…

Veggie Tales - Preservation

With the garden planted and the fencing up, my job is not finished. I wish! How do I keep my garden in good condition? How do I preserve it and care for it to ensure good crops? There’s still work to be done and lessons to be learned as I await the harvest.

Preservation.

As I’m writing this our weather has been in the 80s, with barely any rain so far this Spring. So when I think preservation, I think watering. As I planted the seeds, I noticed that the packets said they needed to be kept moist. That could mean watering them 1, 2, even 3 times a day until they grow roots deep enough to sustain the scorching sun. There’s something soothing to me about watering the grass, flowers, and garden. And it reminds me of an impactful teaching from Craig Mayes I heard at Kensington long ago.

Hebrews 6:7 says “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.”

Farmers and gardeners know that rain is key to the survival of their crops. The same is true for our spiritual lives, our spiritual harvests. We need God’s rain - His Word, His Spirit, His Living Water - to fall upon us and nourish us so that we can grow.

So what does Hebrews 6:7 teach about God’s rain? First, when we drink it in it helps us to produce good crops, useful crops. Second, that the crops we produce are intended for our good and for the good of others. Third, that when we produce good crops we receive blessings from God.

But to me, the most important thing we learn from this verse is that God’s rain is “often falling.” Through His Word. His presence. His Spirit within us. God is available, accessible, and a generous provider of what we need. God’s rain falls on us frequently - constantly really. All we have to do is drink it in on a regular basis. I think of the spiritual disciplines or practices of Bible reading, meditation, memorization, prayer, fasting, solitude, etc. Those are ways we drink in God’s rain on a regular basis.

And like the seeds in my garden, I need to be watered every day. We all do. Without God’s living water on a daily basis, I know that I’m prone to wander in search of nourishment, comfort, wisdom, refreshment…or whatever…from other places…my own cisterns of water.

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13, NIV)

Picture a cistern. They come in many shapes and sizes, but I’m picturing one that is partially sunken into the ground, lined with cement or limestone to collect water. Because the water is stagnant, it gets kinda gross. Then when the lining cracks, water seeps out and the mud seeps in. No matter how hard I try to keep that cistern filled, all that remains is a gross, muddy puddle that’s unable to clean, quench, or refresh.

So I had to ask myself, what is the cistern that I keep returning to that never seems to satisfy? What do I need to do to exchange that broken cistern for God’s spring of living water, His rain that is often falling?

The alternative is hardened, sun scorched land that produces thorns and thistles, and hardened hearts far from God that produce rotten fruit. As Hebrews 6:8 goes on to say, “But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.” Worthless. Cursed. Burned. Ouch.

What is the condition of the soil of my heart? What am I doing to protect and preserve it? What am I using to water, and doing to keep it free from thorns? Am I producing the fruit God intended?

Boy, this is a lot of work…I sure hope the Lord is patient with me, and gives me a good dose of patience myself.

Veggie Tales - Protection

When we first moved into this house, one of the things I was most excited about was having a yard with real grass – the green, barefoot-walking kind. With the big yard, came a decent-size garden at the one end. I saw through the overgrown weeds and strewn-about trash to the potential it held, not realizing at first that while I was going to work on the garden, the Lord was going to work on me.

Protection.

How do you guard a garden? Well, it depends on what you’re protecting it from. In my case it’s those small but pesky critters including our Yorkie puppy (pictured here) who loves to dig up bugs. So a small fence should do the trick. Now that the fence is up, however, I’ll need to continue to be on guard to see if anything else is getting through my defenses – bugs, birds, bigger pesky critters. Being on guard takes continued monitoring, alertness, and effort…Yeah, I know, this is just a garden we’re talking about, but as usual, the Lord is using it to teach me some important life lessons.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, Jesus compares our hearts to soil in a garden – conditions have to be right in order to receive God’s Word and reap its fruit in our lives. (Matthew 13) God’s Word also teaches us that we need to guard our hearts above all else.

“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23, AMP) The NLT version says “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” These are some strong words about guarding our hearts – with all vigilance, above anything else that you guard.

Guarding our hearts means protecting it from tempting influences that can distract us from God - temptations which can quickly lead to sin, destroying the good fruit in our lives.

Being on guard also means recognizing where we are weak or vulnerable and amping up our defenses in that area especially. As I’m protecting my garden from puppies and rabbits, a small, chicken wire fence will work. When we lived on the mission base, Pastor Abram needed to protect his garden from horses, blesbok and wildebeest. His fence was a lot different than mine. This isn’t about the size of the fence; rather it’s about recognizing we need the right fence for the job.

I’m amazed, and convicted, at how much effort I put into guarding “stuff”. We have locks on our doors, gates for double protection, bars on our windows, a sophisticated security system, and a ferocious guard dog (also pictured here). Not to mention the mental and emotional energy I spend thinking about security, even worrying about it…

Do I guard my heart with the same effort and energy as I guard other things in my life? Do I guard my heart with all diligence, above all else that I guard?

Ashamed, the answer is no. I think I underestimate the power of the influences around me, thinking that they won’t affect me that much. But that’s the way the enemy works, deceiving us into thinking a behavior, risk, influence, or thought is no big deal until it’s too late.

So I’ve had to ask myself, where am I most vulnerable and therefore need to guard my heart? Where do I need to strengthen my defenses through time in God’s word? And where do I need the fellowship and accountability of others to keep me on track?

It’s critical to protect our hearts by keeping them focused on God, because our hearts determine the course of our lives.

Wow, the garden looks great! Now how do I keep it that way?

Return on Investment

For the past 2 weeks, we have been celebrating FlashPoint graduations. What an incredible year this has been!

FlashPoint is our Leadership Development and AIDS prevention program in the schools. Our bi-weekly classes teach about topics such as living for God’s purpose, purity, character, HIV and AIDs, drugs and alcohol, and other tough issues youth face.

Over the year, our students have worked hard and grown in incredible ways. It’s a blessing to see young people being shaped, stretched and used by God, discovering His purpose for their lives.

As we celebrate the thousands of graduating students, we also celebrate our coaches who have invested so much into their students as teachers, mentors, counselors and friends. Their impact is seen on the faces of their students – in their smiles, laughter, and tears. Their impact is heard in each testimony shared. And their impact will continue as these students live what they’ve learned.

Please join in praying for our FlashPoint graduates, that they continue to grow as leaders for Christ.

Veggie Tales - Preparation

One of the hobbies I’ve taken up since moving into town is gardening. Given my suburban roots, this has felt like a pretty massive undertaking. As I await an equally massive harvest, I’ve also been reflecting on how the Lord is using these veggies to teach me about my faith. While I’m sure there are many, my biggest lessons learned have to do with preparation, protection, preservation and patience. Hang in there; you’ll see what I mean…

Preparation.

I began my venture by doing a little research on growing vegetables in South Africa. Experts agree that preparation is crucial to ensure that the soil is in good condition. Our weather is dry and our soil is predominately clay, so I had to begin with the back-breaking task of breaking up the soil, removing rocks, and working in good soil (compost and manure, yuck!).

All this hard work reminded me of the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. Jesus compared the condition of our soil with the condition of our hearts, and conditions have to be right in order to receive God’s Word and reap its fruit in our lives.

So, what is the condition of the soil of my heart?

Is it like the path mentioned, hardened from years of being trampled and baked in the sun? When God’s Word is sown on hardened soil, it’s not understood or even welcomed. The seeds are quickly snatched away.

Does the soil of my heart contain rocks that prevent God’s Word from taking root? I think of rocks as internal things like sin, negative thinking, stubbornness, insecurity, unforgiveness, or pride. Without deep roots, plants wither away in harsh conditions. Without deep roots, people fall away when tested or tempted. As the Lord exposes the rocks in our soil, it’s critical to do the often times back-breaking, heart-breaking work of removing them. To answer the question, yes - I definitely have some rock removal to do.

Does the soil of my heart contain thorns allowing God’s word to be choked out? I think of thorns as external things like temptations, worldly pressures, false teachings, or the expectations of others. Weeds compete with the good plants, depriving them of much needed water, sun and nutrients. The worries and pressures of life can do the same thing, and like weeds, if left unattended, they have the amazing ability to grow huge, spread fast, and ultimately take over the place.

Whether the soil is hard, rocky, or full of thorns and weeds, the result is the same – little to no fruit. “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)

So I’ve done the heavy lifting of preparing my soil and planting my vegetable seeds. And along the way, the Lord has been teaching me about my heart condition as well.

So now what? ... Eish! Those pesky critters!