Failure Happens, Then What?

 

The difference between success and failure depends on how you look at it. Our culture has conditioned us to see success as a most desirable goal and failure as a terrible event.  Most people view freedom from difficulties, not the ability to handle difficulties well, as a measure of success and maturity, yet God continues to build His kingdom with those who have failed.

Although failure is not a requirement for success, it can be a stepping stone to deeper relationships with God and others. By God’s grace, we can learn how to fail successfully! God is a specialist in working out our failings into His purposes.

Failure can actually get you closer to a place where God wants you to be.
After miserably failing to deliver the Hebrews in his own strength and then spending forty years in the desert Moses was adamantly reluctant to represent God to the Pharaoh

“What if they do not believe me or listen to me?... Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:1, 10, 13

Later, this timid Moses confidently stood up to the Pharaoh face to face. When there was no way of escape from the Pharaoh’s fast-approaching army Moses boldly told his people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.”

Failure can increase your confidence in God
Even if we’re feeling useless or washed up God can do for you what he did for Moses. He can call us back to Himself and deepen our trust in Him. After Moses’ failure his ‘uninvited and unexpected time’ in the Midian desert brought him to a place of reflection and it’s is no different for you and me.

We can learn from our wilderness time that our life is not over and neither is our life purpose!  Afterward, we can be available and respond confidently when an opportunity arrives. Are you ready for your burning bush?

Failure can empower us to help others
We can deepen our trust in God by learning from our failings. Our greatest fear should not be of failing at something, but failing at something that doesn’t matter all that much. Like Moses, after we’ve majorly blown it we can find ourselves in the proverbial wilderness.

While we’re in the desert we are in a place where we are not where we used to be or where we want to be. Maybe you’re in unchartered territory and want to get out of it, but you can’t.

Failure is an open door for a deeper trust in God
But, if my heart response is, “I don’t need this, I don’t deserve this, I’m a failure, I can’t do anything right” or if I blame others for my failings I won’t learn to trust in God with my fears. Thankfully, there is a better way! Like Moses, you can accept your failings and let Him use them. His glory can shine out of what we bring to him in humility!

When you are honest with yourself and God you can trust that His everlasting arms of acceptance are always open to you! Trust that God can redeem your poor choices to help others. He’s used to it. He’s good at it and he wants to do that for you. Thank God He uses the ordinary to do extraordinary things for His Glory.

 

After We've Blown It

In Redefining Failure, “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.”Acts 7:25 Moses’ impulsive self will lead to the death of an Egyptian. When it became know he feared for his life he frantically fled into the Midian wilderness.

Running and exhausted, when Moses arrived in the Midian desert he ‘sat down by a well.’ There at the well, he had the time to reflect on his epic failure and perhaps asked himself, “What did I just do? I can’t believe it. Now, what am I going to do?”

Unlike Moses, many of us do not sit down long enough to process our failings? As Lincoln said, “My great concern is not whether you’ve failed, but are you content with it?” Have we thought it through and accepted it? Do we learn from our failings or are we destined to repeat them?

For the next several decades Moses had another kind of education, one of obscurity in the dry and barren Midian desert. He settled in as a foreigner and learned what it was to be a shepherd and had two sons. During those seemingly forgotten years, God remembered Moses! God still had a plan for him.  Another observation that we can learn from Moses’ life is that…

God Is with You During and After Your Failings
After forty long years, God gave Moses another visit. God had heard the cries of His oppressed people in Egypt (Exodus 2:23) and now He was going to deliver them from their bondage by the hand of Moses. God spoke to Moses and told him that he would, “Tell the Pharaoh to let my people go.”

Moses’ response was, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” After failing so miserably last time it was understandable that Moses was so insistent that he wouldn’t have anything to do with delivering Israel.

Then God said to Moses, “I will be with you.” You see now Moses, last time you did it your way and I wasn’t in it, but this time I AM! You got that Moses? Don’t miss this, “I will be with you!”

Moses continued his adamant reluctance with excuses (Ex.4:1, 10-13). “Not me Lord, I’m not qualified, I’m not a good speaker. Remember Lord, I’m a loser?” O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”Over the years Moses had become preoccupied with his past failure. He couldn’t forget it. His failure became his ball and chain. The second observation is that…Cross references:

Failure Can Lead to a Lack of Trust in God and Yourself
But it doesn’t have to! Unfortunately, some people can’t accept their failure and move on. They’re stuck in their own self-imposed prison cell. It doesn’t have to be that way! Everyone experiences failure, but the biggest failure is not trying again. You can start over!

No matter what we’ve done, know that no one has failed too greatly or too much for God! God doesn’t waste your failures. He uses them to remind you how desperately you really need His presence and guidance. Thankfully, when you do fail God’s acceptance is always available.

God can work your failure into His plans! He knows exactly what to do. He has a long history of redeeming failure. As he was with Moses, God will be with YOU!

As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Join us for the next blog as we learn how the radical turnaround in Moses’ life can help you too!

Love Your Enemy

Legend has it that just before painting the faces of the disciples in the Lord’s Supper Leonardo DaVinci had a terrible argument with a fellow artist. He determined to paint his adversary’s face into the portrait is that of Judas Iscariot and thus take revenge by handing down the man in infamy and scorn for generations.

The face of Judas was one of the first he finished and everyone could easily recognize the face of a painter with whom he quarreled. However, when it came time to paint the face of Christ Da Vinci couldn’t make any progress at all. Something seemed to be frustrating even his best efforts.

He realized that the cause of this difficulty was in his bitterness and lack of forgiveness towards his fellow painter. He concluded that you cannot at the same time be painting the features of Christ in your own life and painting another with the colors of hatred and enmity.

King Saul relentlessly and unjustly chased David all over Israel to take his life. In his pursuit of David Saul stopped into a cave to relieve himself unaware that David and his men were hiding in the back of the cave. David had the perfect opportunity to take out Saul. His men said, ‘Saul has tried to kill you several times, so take care of your enemy now and take the throne that is rightfully yours.’ David persuaded his men not to retaliate.

Instead, David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe while he was taking care of business. David didn’t gloat, but his conscience was bothering him about what he did. In response to his conscience, David did an amazingly gracious thing. I Samuel 24:8-13

There is a better way than getting even

David told Saul, ‘You’re listening to inaccurate counsel and wrong information about me.’ David told the person who needed to hear it the most, not to Saul’s men, not to Israel, but Saul himself. He spoke to the person with whom his battle was with.

When we have been wronged it's important to graciously convey the truth to the person involved no matter who they are, even if it's the king. Some tend to think to leave it alone, it will work out. David did not.

The desire for revenge is one of the most subtle temptations in life

Saul thought was, ‘If you don’t hate David as much as I do, then you’re my enemy.’ When we label someone as bad we can feel justified in getting back. 

Resentment and retaliation reduce us to the one who did that awful thing to me.

Saul didn’t want a civil conversation he wanted revenge. Today, vengeance can be disguised as ‘My rights.’ It wasn’t fair, so I’ll get you back! I’m not talking about national defense here, but personal harm is done to us. How often should we seek revenge? God doesn’t say sometimes, but “Vengeance is mine.”

David was unjustly and severely mistreated by Saul. At that very vulnerable time in the cave, David could have exacted revenge. His friends would have applauded, but he would have had to live with his decision for the rest of his life. 

The blame game is lame

What about you? If you’re holding a grudge toward someone and treating them accordingly it will not turn out well for you and those around you. For your own sake and others ask God to free you from the ball and chain you’re dragging around.

If there’s any blame leave it with God, don’t live with it. Maybe God can’t finish his masterpiece in your life until the enmity you have with someone is gone when giving it to Him. As the grateful forgiven Apostle Paul said…

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. Romans 12:19

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. Martin Luther King

When life’s subtle temptation of retaliation draws you in, refuse to give into it. You’ll never regret forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this, you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:8-9

 

How Long Is Too Long To Wait?

One of the biggest frustrations with waiting is how long things seem to take. How long is too long to wait for a promotion, for recognition, for a plane, for a relationship, for the light to turn green on our evening commute? Whether we recognize it or not, waiting is a constant in our lives.  At any given moment we’re all waiting for something or someone.

Waiting patiently is hard, especially in a culture with a microwave mentality.  We demand immediacy, in everything from meals to work to traffic to relationships.  We want what we want and we want it yesterday. In this climate of instant gratification, we can easily feel as if we’ve been waiting forever for something, even if it’s only been a short time.

Like Abram we can get pretty tired of waiting for that something to happen. Ten years after God had promised Abram that he would be the father of many nations he was still childless and he lamented to God about his situation. Then God told Abram, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Now, that’s an amazing promise.

Yet, it wasn’t too long after this promise that a bewildered Abram lapsed in faith with a little help from his wife Sarai. What’s going on, how on earth is God going to fulfill his promise? There must be a way God, it’s been years of waiting with no visible results. As was the custom of the day, not God inspired, Sarai suggests a short-cut and adamantly begs her husband, “go sleep with my handmaiden and we can build a family through her.”  Maybe Abram thought, that sound good to me, sure why not?

Sarai made her own plan that seemed good to her and plus it was acceptable to her culture. Sound familiar?  Abram could a should a, but he didn’t. If Sarai thought Lot gave them problems she had no idea the radical impact of her decision would have upon her own family. They couldn’t wait and took matters into their hands. Gosh, that sounds way too familiar.

For 13 years both of them told everybody that God blessed their decision. The child Ishmael was the promised one, the heir apparent and the fulfillment of God’s promise. Then something happened that rocked their world and changed their names and lives forever.

At the age of ninety-nine God visits Abram and tells him that He is now going to fulfill His promise. (Gen.17:1-18) Abram can’t believe it, are you kidding me, we’re in our nineties? Abram cries out, “Oh that Ishmael might live.” Can you hear the pain in that statement? Don’t you see God I want this so bad, I’ve been telling everyone… Don’t you see this is how it’s supposed to be? This looks really bad for me now.

God’s responded, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” (Gen.17:19) Aren’t you glad that despite our many failings God faithfully fulfills His promises! They are not dependent upon us.

Waiting on the Lord is essential to growing in our faith journey. May we learn from Abraham that running ahead of God and trusting our own resources can create problems for us and those we love and we can miss God’s best. God helps us. We need His help! 

The good news is that there is more to Abraham’s life journey than this lapse of faith that we can learn from and apply. Join us next time for an unforgettable story of faith and sacrifice with real life application.

The Power of Words

Last week we looked at how showing mercy can open the door to healing and redemption in a divisive world. The words we use can help restore broken relationships and improve our current ones.

Controlling our tongue is the one of the hardest things in life. Peter tells us, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.” 1 Peter 3:10

A way to live in peace is to watch your words and your reactions to other’s words. 

We all regret things we’ve said? Part of managing our words in conversation is defining what we mean. Words don’t always mean the same thing to all people.  If one person says that’s bad, does that mean really bad or totally awesome? In difficult conversations define your words when necessary.

Words hurt. Words heal.
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

You can break a bone and it might take six weeks or a few months to heal, but some of you have been holding onto words for far too long. Emotional wounds take a whole lot longer to heal than physical wounds.

Our words can heal or tear down, delight, destroy, encourage or discourage. We can either compliment and encourage or destroy a relationship by our words.  Most of you know what I’m talking about. You don’t want to destroy someone that is so precious to you with your words unintentional or not.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Romans 14:19

Maturity grows when our concerns for others are greater than for ourselves.

God made us different and he did it on purpose. No one has the total picture and perspective on everything. You and I don’t have it all together, but we do need community. Despite our painful histories we need each other. God made it that way! 

God wants us to use our differences to enrich each other’s lives rather than to divide us. When we live out the six heart attitudes that we’ve been looking at in the last three blogs it will improve all of our relationships and reduce conflicts. Now, isn’t that what we all want and need?

Compassion and Humility in a Divisive World

How can we live in harmony in such a divisive world? Last week we looked at two heart attitudes that can foster harmony. There are two more significant heart postures that can help us develop new meaningful lasting relationships and improve our current ones.

Compassionate Heart
Showing compassion takes sympathy a step further. There are two ways we can show compassion in our relationships:

What we say.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

Does this verse characterize your speech and lifestyle?  Words that build others up makes other people appreciate you’re around, it meets needs. Or are your words like bombs filled with hurt and pain? Part of reducing conflict is choosing the right words at the right time in the right place.

How we act.
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18

What can I do for you?  Rate yourself on  a compassion scale of 1 to 10. If the people closest to you say your prevalent attitude is, “How can you make my life better?” give yourself a 1-2.
Give yourself a 9 if you are constantly looking for ways to make life better for others.

Humble Heart
When we’re unwilling to compromise it’s highly likely that we’ll have little harmony or resolution in our lives. Humility is recognizing we don’t have it altogether and being honest with our weaknesses, our failings and willing to admit our mistakes. I’m willing to say four words, “I need your help.” To say you need help takes humility. 

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment. Romans 12:3

Humility also enables me to say I was wrong. It’s hard to be honest and vulnerable isn’t it? Humility is able to say, “forgive me.” It may be hard for some to say that, but when we remember how much God has graced our lives and forgiven us we can say, “I’m sorry I was wrong, please forgive me.”

Scripture encourages us to bear one another’s burdens, but how do I know what’s yours’ or how do you know what’s mine unless we share it?

How would you rate your level of humility 1 to 10? If you can’t back down and are defensive and can’t admit your wrong and ask forgiveness give yourself a 1. If you haven’t said “I was wrong” since 2000 give yourself a 1.” Give yourself a 9 if you can easily ask other people for help and admit that you’re wrong. You get the idea.

Join us next time for more heart attitudes that fosters harmony and improves our relationships.

My Way or God's Way?

In the previous blog we looked at how the word ‘submission’ has been radically misinterpreted. Unfortunately, history is full of women and other people groups that have been marginalized by unbiblical ‘under my thumb’ interpretations of submission.

So, it’s understandable this reality has impacted the how people view submission. Some think that submission means being used and abused by letting someone walk all over you to make them happy. That's not at all what it means. For some submission is all about getting their way.

My Way
Being exhausted of earning other’s approval for far too long can turn into my way This can look like ‘my way or the Highway.’ ‘This is the way things ought to be. If I ran everything, everything would be great!’

Women have come a long way since the Apostle Peter wrote about submission. The point of what Peter said in 1 Peter 3:3-4 was not meant to be a legalistic banning of beauty products or that women cannot improve their appearance. More importantly Peter empathizes the vastly superior value of the inner beauty of a woman in contrast to the danger of extravagant enslavement to fashion.

I think a little boy said it best when he asked his mom why she put so much stuff on her face? Her response, “Honey, if the barn needs painting, then I better paint it.” So, relax Mary Kay fans. But there is   a much better way to live.

God’s Way
A better way to see submission is being unselfishness. We need to learn to be unselfish in all of our relationships. But here’s the problem - we don’t think we are.  “I’m just fine, I’m getting what I want so why do I need to be unselfish.” I’m not selfish I just know what I want when I want and how and where I want it!”

James tells us that selfishness is a source of constant conflict

 
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice… What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
                                                                                                                              James 3:16; 4:1

When you boil down many conflicts someone in the conversation is being selfish and it’s always the other person!  God’s way of submission is seen in Christ’s submission to His Father’s will.

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage, but rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:6-8

 

Under intense pressure and deep anxiety in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus submitted to His Father’s will, “Not my will, but thy will be done.” The result of that ultimate act of surrender revealed the heart of Jesus for His Father. Aren’t you glad Jesus’ submission to His Father brought you forgiveness and new life? 

When we bow our heart towards “Not my will, but thy will be done” we will not only experience true life-giving freedom, but it will also benefit others.

What Is Submission Anyway?

An important quality that is deeply needed in relationships is submission. Does that sound odd to you? In today’s culture the concept of submission has a negative connotation. Unfortunately, history is full of women and other people groups that have been marginalized by an unbiblical ‘under my thumb’ interpretations of submission. 

So, it’s understandable this reality has impacted the how people view submission. Yes, the word submission has an image problem, but what does scripture say?

Jesus himself was obedient and submissive to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). In the scriptures Christ followers are to have a submissive attitude towards God, authorities, bosses, spouses and elders. The life of God in us looks like a life of submission. Submission impacts all our relationships.

The Greek word for submission has a military meaning and a non-military meaning. Many have only heard about the military use of getting in line, duty, etc., but the non-military use of submission is a voluntary attitude of cooperating, yielding, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden.

Doesn’t that sound like the life of God in us? Cooperation. Yielding. Assuming responsibility. Carrying a burden. This is what we do for each other in the body of believers and it is what we do for those who we live closely with and those who do not yet believe. We submit in such a way that the life of God might be seen in us and help others see Him through our actions.

A better way to understand biblical submission is being unselfish in our relationships and having the courage to give up my rights to meet another person’s needs.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4

One main ingredient in living a satisfying life is the ability to be unselfish. We’ve all have choices with the way we choose to live and here are the most common.

Other’s Way – Living to make other people happy

What do you want me to be and do for you? This may include compromising my deepest values. It’s sad to see what people will do to earn other’s acceptance and approval.

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. If I seek to please man, I am no longer pleasing God. Galatians 1:10 

You can exhaust yourself and lose your identity in trying to please people and eventually resent it and go underground. We might think that living for others’ ways is submission, but that’s not at all what it means. It’s not being used and abused by letting someone walk all over you to make them happy. There is another way.

My Way
Being exhausted of earning other’s approval for too long can turn into my way. For more on My way and the God’s Way join us for the next blog.

Good News For Everyone

The recent tragic news of the SoCal fires and mass shootings has left many of us feeling weary. No doubt, there is plenty of domestic and international bad news to go around. The world has more than enough trouble. Trouble at the border, trouble in Washington, financial trouble, and relational trouble. As Bob Dylan once said, “There’s trouble, nothing but trouble.”

It was into a world of trouble when God interrupted a lowly group of shepherds thousands of years ago.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.“ But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord”  Luke 2:10-11

Unfortunately many have missed this good news along the way. The birth of Christ has been glossed over with every imaginable marketing plug, Santa, jingle bells, cute sayings, decorations and debt. Or maybe we’ve unintentionally been too busy getting prepared for the season or getting through it.

But Christmas is a story of contrasts.  

As Luke says this good news is for the ‘all the people.’ You see God intended it for all, but it only makes sense and is only accessible for those who realize they need this good news.

The good news was proclaimed in such an unforgettable dramatic way it radically interrupted the shepherd's daily routine. What does it take for God to interrupt you to get your attention? Is it an illness, a broken relationship, a broken heart or dream, the loss of a loved one?

Why did God reveal the good news to the shepherds? It had nothing to do with who they were. The shepherds were the bottom rung of Jesus’ day; they were those you didn’t want your daughter to marry. They had no position or reputation and didn’t even own the sheep. Don’t you love it? God came to those who others sized up as insignificant, but not God!

Maybe we're not aware of it, but we’re like the shepherds. Yes, you and I.
The Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians about God’s utterly amazing grace that was given freely to those who responded to God’s good news.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth…He chose the lowly things of this world to confound the wise. I Corinthians 1:26, 28

During this busy Christmas season slow down to reflect upon ‘the greatest news ever proclaimed.'

Are You In Need of Gratitude?

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Charles Dickens 

Gratitude helps us to appreciate things that we might otherwise take for granted and can increase our contentment.  Research has shown that gratitude provides many positive health benefits like lower levels of stress, better sleep and grateful people are more enjoyable to be around. 

Research also suggests that gratitude leads to an increased sense of self-worth. The apostle Paul wrote, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” Titus 3:4-5 

As recipients of God’s kindness, we know that we are of high value to God and as a result we are likely to feel more loved and cared for and more likely to reciprocate our own acts of generosity. God granted us mercy despite our undeserving nature and because of this and His great sacrifice for us we can come to the realization we are of incredible worth in His eyes. 

As a result we want to give thanks to God, “Give thanks to the lord, for He is good! His mercy endures forever,”Psalm 136:1 and to others, “We give thanks to God always for you.” I Thessalonians 1:2

Gratitude makes you a better person, not just in the sense of doing nice things for other people, but it comes with joy. When I’m grateful life feels more like a gift and I feel more engaged with the little things around me.

Thankfulness provides a needed balance to our irritation, anger, and frustration and less negative physical symptoms. Did you know there is lower occurrence of depression among grateful people?

People are not inherently grateful.  We were not born grateful, although some have had better role models than others growing up. Gratitude is learned and it takes time to develop. Practice gratitude.

Some of us need to consider having a gratitude journal recording the simple things that might otherwise be overlooked, like enjoying the warm rays of the sun or a cup of coffee with a good friend. You know, the things that can help develop a positive lens on life. Count your blessings rather than your burdens.

The more we express gratitude the more natural it becomes. You can change someone's life with a sincere thank you! Don't put it off, do it today. 
 
“Affirming and embracing the good in life seems to be the simple and natural outcome of living gratefully, especially when we stop to consider what God has done us.” Tiffany Musik Matthews

Through the cross we find the ultimate demonstration of unconditional love—and a very humbling reason to give thanks to the Creator. When we fully grasp our tremendous worth to God we can better appreciate His sovereignty and care for us in the midst of the storms of life. We become deeply grateful to God for His indescribable love.

Thinking about gratitude is great, but even better if it causes you to act because of it. Now, go out and show it to others for His sake.

A Christmas Song of Hope

Were all marked by songs aren’t we?
Some songs bring back memories or bring us to tears. Songs can leave an impact upon us. Songs can change things. Certain songs stand out when we’re celebrating or grieving. What song are you singing now? Most of us sing when things are going great, but what if they’re not, can we still sing?

Zechariah sang from the depths of his heart for his love for his son John and the hope of Israel.  Miraculously Zach’s wife gave birth to their son and Zach broke out into his celebrative song, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:  “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed his people.”   Luke 1:67-68

Notice Zach’s three words about Israel’s long awaited Messiah, ‘He has come’ John 1:1-4, 14 

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God is with us) Isaiah 7:14.

After years of waiting, God’s divine visitation had ‘finally’ come to Israel just as God had promised! Israel had been wondering when their God would speak again? After four hundred years of silence since the prophet Malachi spoke God fulfilled His promise as he said He would!
How long have you been waiting for something or someone?

Are you in a long winter of waiting and are feeling kind of hopeless and losing your sense of purpose? Maybe you’ve become cold and numb and in desperate need of a touch from God? Maybe you’re feeling guilty about something you’ve gotten into? Maybe you’re worried about your future?

Then, you need to hear Zechariah’s chorus, He has come to redeem His people to give us hope for today and our future! He has come to reveal His Son to show His extravagant love to you. He wants to assure you that He knows everything about you and cares about you. You are His work of art that is yet to be completed!

In the midst our winter of discontent sometimes we can’t see clearly.
We might not even be able to see our own reality. We might be blinded by our own grief and tears. If so, hear the encouraging words of Isaiah.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

When things seem hopeless and uncertain be encouraged that, ’He has come’ for you too! Yes, He has come to bring light into your darkness and mine. Jesus came to live and die for you so that you could truly know Him and be His now and forever!  Now, that is something to sing about don’t you think?

Everyone sings something. What will your song be? May you join me this Christmas season in knowing that Zechariah’s chorus ‘HE HAS COME’ can be your song too!

A Very Warm Merry Christmas to you,

Mark

God Knows About Closed Doors

God knows the agony of more closed doors than anyone ever will. God has given to every person the key to the door of their own heart, but God will not force his way in. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”(Rev.3:20)

It’s not just that we hope God will open a door for us, but God hopes we will open a door for him.

We have or inevitably will someday stand in pain at a closed door. I cannot provide an explanation or reasons your heartfelt felt prayers are not answered, but I can point you to a Person. I can tell you that at the heart of the gospel is a desperate unanswered prayer.

Jesus prayed, “Father, if it is possible, may this cup, this suffering, this death be taken from me.” Yet not my will, but yours, be done.” As author John Ortberg said, “This is the most desperate prayer ever prayed from the most discerning spirit that ever lived, from the purest heart that ever beat, for deliverance from the most unjust suffering ever known. And all it got was silence. Heaven was not moved. The cup was not taken from him. The request was denied. The door remained closed.”

That unwanted and unjust suffering became the hope of the world because the ultimate answer to every human drama is a blood-soaked cross where the Son of God himself suffered. Nobody has all the answers, but what if our most difficult prayer requests were answered yes?  

What if God had said yes to His son’s request? What if Jesus had been spared his suffering? What if there had been no cross, no death, no tomb, no resurrection, no forgiveness of sins, no birth of the church? What if? I don’t know why some prayers get yeses and some prayers get nos.

I know the disappointment of a no when you desperately need a yes more than anything in the world, but I don’t know why. I only know that in the cross God’s no to his only Son turned into God’s yes to everyone who ever lived. Yours and my unanswered prayer or a closed door just might be to other people’s benefit, we just need to trust God that He knows what's best!

God Has an Open Door for You

If I Chose the Wrong Door I Missed Gods Will for My Life
Now, I’ll just have to settle for second best. People who don’t like the outcome of one decision obsess over what might have happened if they had chosen differently.  Like person who comes to believe he should have made a different career choice and lives with a chronic sense of guilt.  A woman believes she married the wrong man and fantasizes over an imaginary marriage to the man she now decides was Plan A.

It seems that many of us tend to think more often in a negative direction than a positive one. We think disproportionately about the outcomes that disappoint us and not the ones that filled us with gratitude that we could have missed out on.

As author John Ortberg says,“The Apostle Paul makes a great distinction. He says there is a godly sorrow that brings repentance and a worldly that brings death. (2 Corinthians 7:10)  The right kind of sorrow over a bad decision creates energy rather than despair. It helps us to learn from past mistakes and grow into wisdom. Worldly sorrow is depleting. In worldly sorrow we look at our bad choices as though the world rather than God is our only hope.”   

God’s will for my life is centered mainly in who he wants me to become.

God Could Never Understand My Frustration about Closed Doors
One of the most famous pictures of a door in the history was by the  artist William Holman Holt. It

shows the figure of a single man, standing outside the little home he wants to enter to be allowed in. We cannot tell if there is anyone inside or if the door will ever be opened. 

Imagine if you stood outside someone’s home knocking on the door, not knowing whether you will be allowed in. God has given to every person the door to their own heart, and God himself will not force his way in.

No person has ever faced the pain of rejection as much as God has. God is not just the one who opens doors; he is the one who stands knocking at closed doors. He is the most rejected person in the history of the world. If he is willing to stand at the door of my heart and knock, who am I to give up?

Some Doors Are So Closed That God Can’t Do Anything About It
Locked door are God’s specialty. If God can open the heavy door of a sealed tomb, no door is closed to Him. Consider after the resurrection the doors of the house the disciples were locked, but Jesus appeared to them. Later, doors were shut were his followers were he showed up and said, “Peace be with you.”

The doors of our lives are not closed to God. Know that he can enter our everyday stuff with his presence and peace and show us that his power can change our perspective even when things  look grim. Open doors are new every morning.

Are you Gullible?

In the last blog we looked at the contrast between being naïve and wise. Most of think we are not naïve, but when we are bad things can happen. We all can be wiser in our decision making by knowing what God says about being naïve.

First, the naive hang around people just like them. 
Describing the naïve the proverbs say, "Let all who are naïve come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.” Prov.9:15 

Think of the thousand women that former NBA player Wilt Chamberlin claimed he had sex with during his playing days. Who were these women? When interviewed they said that they hung around each other at the numerous venues waiting for Wilt. The naive not only cannot see the train wreck coming they also use each other. Our utilitarian culture screams out with “why not the join the crowd?”

Secondly, the naive have a hard time recognizing evil.
 A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. Prov.22:3

Evil people’s lives are rarely apparent on the surface and appear quite ordinary to the superficial observer. On the surface many of the maniacal war criminals from Edi Amin, Mussolini and Hitler were thought of as men of the people. The masses were easily seduced to not only tolerate evil, but even cooperate with it.

The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. 

Prov. 14:18

In the end of the day the simple will be filled with the fruit of their ways.Prov. 1:31-32

While it’s true that our upbringing, inherited tendencies, personalities and consequences influence our decision making, it is only God’s wisdom that can truly free us from our naïve leanings.

Is there hope for the naïve? 
Yes, the psalmist wrote, “The LORD protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.” 

Psalm 116:6 

Thank God His grace intimately knows us, guards us and at times even saves us from our ways. In His mercy God instituted special atoning sacrifices for presumptuous and unintentional sins. Exek.45:20: Num.15:27-28. 

God has special grace toward those who do not have the ability to adequately discern the deeper decisions of life. I thank God He was gracious towards me while I made many poor choices in my earlier days.

The simple are easily swayed to believe almost anything or anyone. The naive have a tendency to look the other way and pretend they’re good, but it comes back to haunt them

The good news is that change is possible for the naïve, but it requires adversity. Prov. 19:25; 21:11
It is preferable to change our ways by seeing others’ punishment for their naïve decisions, but that is not usually the case. Too often the naïve require something that rocks their world that brings them to true change.
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. Psalms 119:71

God uses His Word to bring about change. 
Ultimately, God directly speaks to the naïve in order to bring about change. Listen to Him speak.

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Psalms 19:7; 119:130

God uses people to bring about change.
Sometimes those people can be a family member, a friend, co-worker or even a stranger. Whoever it may be they can be a messenger sent directly from God if we accept it. Their words may be hard to hear, but exactly what we need in order for us to grow in everyday wisdom.

In our search for everything wisdom we need to identify the naïve places of our lives and allow God’s wisdom to change our hearts.

The beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Prov.1:7

Mark
mark@startingoverworkshops.com

What Does It Take To Become Wise?

In our previous blogs from ‘Wise Up – Everyday Wisdom we saw how we can recognize a wise person, but what does it take to become wise? It doesn’t happen overnight or by reading a self-help book or by five easy steps. Wisdom comes from understanding and living by three truths. The first truth is...
It Takes God

For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6To learn wisdom we first need revelation, but what kind of revelation? There is plenty of confusing philosophical and religious resources out there to choose from, but which one do I align with? Do I try something to see if it works? 

What if we've been sold a bill of goods and find out we've been deceived since the beginning. What if we've  had a wrong view of God because of the wrong resources or because of our family of origin? As A.W. Tozer said,
“Left to ourselves we tend to reduce God to manageable terms. We want to get him where we can use him, or at least know where he is when we need him. We want a God we can in some measure control. We need the feeling of security that comes from knowing what God is like.”
It’s great when we know where someone is coming from, to know that the relationship is based upon trust and truth. Our relationship with God is no different. We need to know the truth about who He is and what He has said.

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Psalm 19:7
The scriptures are abundantly clear that God has revealed Himself through His creation and his Word, yet it is not enough to just know this, we need to also walk in His ways. Many of us know this, but none of us have arrived, we’ve all blown it in some way.

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16  The second truth is...
It Takes Others
Others can help us with our perceptions, attitudes and behavior. Wisdom is not a ‘do it yourself thing.’ We need friends who can kick us in the pants when needed and stick closer than a brother. Their role is critical to who we are and who we are becoming. We cannot escape the truth that the scriptures encourage us to listen to others to become wise.
He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. Prov.15:31

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. Prov. 13:20

If we want to become wise we need conversations with wise people and ask them questions and take notes. Take them out for a meal, coffee or a walk.  Just do it! Honor them with your questions. Thirdly,
It Takes YOU!
No one can make you wise. While you can get an education at the best schools and  from teachers and good books they cannot make you wise. Only you are responsible to grow wise, no one else. Wisdom calls out to YOU, “Won’t you come listen to me?”

If you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.   Proverbs 2:1-5
How badly do we want to become wise? Those who seriously desire to live by biblical wisdom can withstand the adversity of our broken world and the shallow and fickle trends of our culture. They dig deep in the wisdom of the scriptures. How about you?