obedience

Unglamorous

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“There is nothing thrilling about a labouring man’s work, but it is the labouring man who makes the conceptions of the genius possible; and it is the labouring saint who makes the conceptions of his Master possible. You labour at prayer and results happen all the time from God’s standpoint. What an astonishment it will be to find, when the veil is lifted, the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you had been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

That’s the part about life that no one really tells you but you learn eventually. 99% of life is unexciting and unadventurous, despite what you may have seen in just about every single movie and television show ever made.

Most of living is showing up and being faithful in your job, at your church, and in your home. Very rarely will anything you do be worthy of a news story or a newspaper headline (or a news website headline to make it 21st century). Hardly anyone outside of your immediate circle will know about most of what you do.

But that’s where God does His best work. When you are committed to be faithful in the small and menial tasks God has placed in front of you, then God can multiply those offerings like the fish and the loaves. He can open up new avenues of service that would not have been available if you weren’t already doing God’s work.

Each person who belongs to Jesus can reach those no one else can reach. Not your pastor. Not your worship leader. Not anyone but you. And your witness is showing up every day and not giving up. That will open up opportunities for you to be able to give a reason for the hope you have in Jesus and lead to gospel conversations.

I truly believe that those who have done the most for the Kingdom of God are those you and I will never know about 99% of the time. They will be the behind the scenes folks who went to work every day, came home and loved their families, and showed up every Sunday to worship and serve.

If you’re not satisfied with where you are or what you’re doing, maybe reframe it as a way of serving Jesus Himself rather than working for an employer. See what you’re doing for your family as serving Jesus. Remember that as you minister to the least of these through your church you are ministering to Jesus Himself.

God honors the longsuffering effort of patient faithfulness. If you can serve not out of your own strength but out of the overflow of the joy of the Lord that comes from time with the Lord, God sees and rewards you and those you serve. You may not get rich or famous, but you will have God’s favor which is by far the best reward of all.

The Unknown

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“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God” (Corrie Ten Boom).

When I’m tempted to fear the unknown, it’s only because I forget that God already knows. I forget that God, being outside of time and space, is already there in that moment waiting for me. He’s also with me in the present. And He was with me when I began to be fearful.

I don’t have to understand. I don’t have to know all the answers. I don’t have to get rid of every possible shred of fear and doubt. I only have to trust and obey. I only have to take the next step of faith.

So much of life is unknown. There’s never a scenario where you will have all the facts or know everybody’s motives or be able to predict every possible outcome. There will always be an element of unknown.

You can be smart. You can plan wisely. You can seek godly counsel. But above all, you must trust God and take that first step. Then you will know enough to take the next step. And then the next. And so on until you get to the place God is taking you. Then the next journey begins.

It all starts with trusting the unknown future to a known God. Although, there is still so much about God that we don’t know. We only know about God what God has revealed to us. We only know what our finite minds can handle. And maybe heaven will be learning all there is to know about God, one lesson at a time, throughout eternity because God is infinite. Then our minds will be able to take it all in.

But for now, it’s still trust and obey. Take the next step. Trust and obey.

Not of Us

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“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)
“The most earnest and faithful minister of the gospel must ever remember that humbling truth. He has this precious treasure of the gospel entrusted to his charge; he knows he has it, and he means to keep it safely; but, still, he is nothing but an earthen vessel, easily broken, soon marred,—a poor depository for such priceless truth.
If angels had been commissioned to preach the gospel, we might have attributed some of its power to their superior intelligence; but when God selects, as he always does, earthen vessels, then the excellency of the power is unquestionably seen to be of God, and not of us” (Charles Spurgeon).

That’s true whether you’re a famous preacher in front of thousands or a simple witness in front of one person. All the power of the gospel comes from God. All the saving comes from God. All the changing of the heart from unbelief to belief and the changing of a soul from dead in sin to alive to God comes from God.

That’s key whenever you have a gospel conversation with anyone. It’s not your job to save anyone. It’s also not your job to be an attorney and prove the existence of God and the Bible and the historical validity of the resurrection and all that. You don’t have to win the person over by a compelling argument. You are simply a witness, telling what you saw, what God did, and how God changed your life.

As I’ve learned, people can argue all day long about theology matters. They can argue about whether God is real or the Bible is true. No one can argue your story. No one can say what happened to you didn’t happen when they see the evidence of a changed and transformed life.

I was reading today about the passage where Jesus sent out the disciples to carry His message. He told them not to worry what to say because when the moment came He would give them the words to say. So often, that’s the case when we are surrendered to God’s will and open to sharing about the hope we have with anyone who asks. We may not know what to say beforehand, but in the moment, the right words come and God is speaking with our voice.

I pray that we all — me included — would diligently seek out in prayer those people with whom we can have gospel conversations. I read something called a 3-open prayer that seems appropriate to be our prayer for those gospel conversations: “1) Lord, open a door to share the gospel. 2) Lord, open the heart of the lost to receive the gospel. 3) Lord, open my mouth to share the gospel.”

Can God Use You?

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I think if God can use any one of these people, He can use you and me. The key is not our ability but our availability. God isn’t looking for charismatic leaders or powerful speakers or Billy Graham-type evangelists as much as He’s looking for those whose hearts are open and willing. Simply, God is looking for people who will say YES, no matter the question.

The beautiful part is that there is no expiration on God’s call. There’s never a time limit. You never age out of being useful to God. God wants people both young and old, to kids from 1 to 92 like the old Christmas song says.

The Bible says, “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9, The Message).

You may be a child. You may be past retirement age. It doesn’t matter. God has a call on your life that is uniquely suited to you and no one else. You alone can accomplish God’s specific calling, and you will only know what that is when you step out in faith (like Indiana Jones in that last real Indiana Jones movie).

May our answer to God always be YES, no matter the question.

The Lord Has Need

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“When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’’ So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them” (Luke 19:29-32, ESV).

I heard something tonight that blew my mind a little. It definitely got me thinking the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem in a different way.

Have you considered the story from the point of the colt? Have you thought that God appointed that a man should go and buy a donkey to take care of it and raise it and feed it? That donkey then proceeded to give birth to a colt, which the man also raises and feeds, all for the moment when Jesus sends His disciples to fetch the colt, saying “The Lord has need of it.”

Have you thought that maybe God placed you and me where we are in the time and place we’re in so that one day, you can be in the place to hear the words “The Lord has need of you”?

We don’t really think about all the time that passed before Jesus needed the colt. All that time that seemed wasted or useless was a time of preparation for one single event that led to the event that changed the entire world.

You may be in a season of preparation that proceeds the moment when God will say to you, “I have need of you.”

I get that in one sense God doesn’t really need you or me or anyone else. But I also know that God places you in the exact moment and location where He will be able to best mold you into the person He can use. Maybe it’s for a lifetime calling or maybe it’s a moment in time. But God will use you. All He asks of you and me is that we are available.

The Mother of the Mother of God

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This is a borrowed post that speaks not about Mary, the mother of Jesus but about Mary’s mother. We know absolutely nothing about her other than she obviously existed — no name, no lineage, no story, no angel visit, no nothing. But yet her faithfulness led to Mary’s faithfulness, which led to the Incarnation.

It’s a post from December 20, so we’re not quite to the time of year to be talking about the nativity just yet. At least for most people. I think this is something that works all year round. What follows is amazing:

“This time of year, we talk about Mary a lot.
But what about Mary’s mother?
Someone had to raise Mary to find favor with God.
Someone had to raise Mary to treasure purity.
Someone had to raise Mary to honor Joseph.
Someone had to raise Mary to know the voice of the Lord, even though they were living in the silent years.

Mary’s mother, we don’t know her name.
We don’t know what her life looked like.
We don’t know who she was married to, or what he was like.
All we know is, she raised the mother of Christ.
She raised a daughter, highly favored of the Lord.
She raised a daughter to fear the Lord, when the Lord was silent.
This is what we know.

Mary’s mother didn’t have an encounter with Angel, telling her to raise Mary carefully because of how the Lord was going to use her.

Mary’s mother chose to raise Mary wisely so that the Lord could use her.

Mary’s mother didn’t have an encounter with Angel, telling her to honor her husband, because Mary would need to honor Joseph when he told her to travel to Bethlehem while she was great with child, when he told her to flee Herod’s wrath (before it came to pass) in the middle of the night, Mary’s mother just honored her husband, obeyed, and submitted to him because she knew that’s what she was called to do.

Mary’s mother didn’t have an encounter with an angel, giving her a word to cling to in those dark, silent years. But she clung to the word of God that she had. She trusted his word, even during his silence.

And her home shone with divine favor, because she made choices in the dark, that affected the whole world.

Mary did you know?

She knew some, she knew what the Angel told her.

But Mary’s mother?
She had no idea.
But she chose to raise a daughter that the Lord could use.
And that choice still affects us all today.
Who you raise can affect eternity.
The example you set in marriage, can affect eternity.
Your home can make the gates of Hell tremble.
But it starts with you” (Sarah Trent).

Feeling Something

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“It is quite right that you should feel that ‘something terrific’ has happened to you (It has) and be ‘all glowy.’ Accept these sensations with thankfulness as birthday cards from God, but remember that they are only greetings, not the real gift. I mean, it is not the sensations that are the real thing. The real thing is the gift of the Holy Spirit which can’t usually be—perhaps not ever—experienced as a sensation or emotion. The sensations are merely the response of your nervous system. Don’t depend on them. Otherwise when they go and you are once more emotionally flat (as you certainly will be quite soon), you might think that the real thing had gone too. But it won’t. It will be there when you can’t feel it. May even be most operative when you can feel it least” (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis Volume III, C.S. Lewis).

The problem with a faith based on feelings is that those feelings are fickle and subject to change. I mean, have you ever tried to sustain a single emotion over a 24-hour period? You can’t. You can’t make yourself feel anything indefinitely.

Also, I’ve learned that feelings can lie. What you feel at any moment can stem from something you ate yesterday that didn’t agree with you. I’ve noticed I might trend more toward negative emotions when I am tired or hungry or bored. Typically, I can’t trust what I’m feeling when I haven’t slept well the night before. I especially have learned from experience not to post any social media or respond to any social media or emails late at night. A good night’s sleep and some time have a way of miraculously changing my attitude and perspective.

But the life of faith does have an emotional component to it. You just don’t put feelings in front. That’s where faith comes in. Feelings should be the caboose of your spiritual journey, present but not leading the way.

God is real even when I don’t feel Him. God’s promises are true even when I can’t see them. Obedience is acting in loving ways even when I don’t feel loving and following God’s commands when I don’t want to.

I’ve always loved the idea that my security as a believer doesn’t depend on how tightly I hold God’s hand but how He won’t ever let go of me.

Trusting Beyond Knowing

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“Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us ‘go.’ The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success.

The final stage in the life of faith is attainment of character. There are many passing transfigurations of character; when we pray we feel the blessing of God enwrapping us and for the time being we are changed, then we get back to the ordinary days and ways and the glory vanishes. The life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting. It is not a question of sanctification; but of something infinitely further on than sanctification, of faith that has been tried and proved and has stood the test. Abraham is not a type of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith, a tried faith built on a real God. ‘Abraham believed God’ (Oswald Chambers).

I heard a sermon today that talked about trusting beyond knowing. Basically, the idea is that faith goes beyond understanding. If I knew everything and saw the whole picture, I wouldn’t need faith.

But the life of faith is one where you only see the next step in front of you, not the entire path. You have to take that first step in order to see the next one. There is no magic word or secret formula that will allow you to skip the difficult parts or to forego being obedient in the present.

There’s no guarantee that being faithful will always lead to prosperity and blessing. Sometimes, the path of obedience leads through the valley of the shadow of death. But the promise we have is that our Shepherd is with us when we go down that road. His rod and staff will comfort us.

We have no promise of material reward for our obedience. We do know that God is faithful to be with us and to fight for us and to never leave or forsake us. We know that God will provide for every need and He Himself will be our inheritance and our reward.

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer” (Corrie ten Boom).

May we sit still and trust our Engineer, no matter where He leads us.

A Rare Random Post

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I used to do these random posts where I would go a bit stream of consciousness and write whatever immediately came to mind without any thought out plan or overall theme. It may be time to revisit that because I honestly have no ideas of what to write about.

I’m still loving my new (to me) Jeep. It’s still a bit weird having a car where all the buttons work and with no check engine light glaring at me from the dashboard. I do miss having a CD player, but I’m adjusting, believe it or not. It turns out old dogs and old Jeep drivers can learn new tricks.

I got to see my niece in a church production where she did a turn as Shirley Temple. I was astounded at how amazing she was. She didn’t just say lines and pretend to be Shirley Temple. It was like I forgot I was watching her and felt like I was really watching Shirley Temple. She has the same charismatic stage presence that my sister had at that age (and then some). One day, I will be able to say I knew her when.

I watched a video where they were discussing people in the Christian music industry who had walked away from their faith. I know it happens. I know that I can’t possibly know all that was going through their minds or in their lives when they decided not to believe any more. I can’t imagine me wanting to leave Jesus. I mean where else could I go? Who else has the words of eternal life that give everlasting hope? I know the Bible says that those who fell away went out from us because they were never truly among us, so I have to think that those who can stop being saved were never truly saved to begin with.

I’m grateful that God is faithful when I’m not. I’m glad that my eternal security doesn’t rest with me because I’d have already lost it by now. I’m thankful that good works didn’t save me and good works don’t keep me saved, but it is all Jesus from start to finish. I know that the proof of true faith is obedience, so my life should look different and there should be spiritual fruit, but I also know that if Jesus started this good work in me (and I know He did), then He will indeed finish it one day.

There’s Always a Choice

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“I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deut. 30:19-20).

The children of Israel had a choice. They could choose to serve and obey God, or they could follow after the gods of the peoples in the land they were called to occupy.

Both choices had consequences. Choosing to follow Yahweh led to life and blessing, while running after idols led to curses and death. There was no third option with no consequences.

Today, we have a choice. Following God leads to life, and following sin, self, and Satan leads to death. Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come to the Father and eternal life but through Him.

The good news is that while you’re living, there’s always time to change the road you’re on. No matter what you’ve done in the past, what terrible choices you might have made, what wreck you might have made of your life, you can always come to God, and He will never cast out anyone coming to Him in faith.

Choose today. Choose Jesus.