Holy Spirit

As Christians, our bodies are homes to the Holy Spirit. The moment we are born again, the Spirit is sent by God to take up residence in our hearts. To be born again is to be ‘born of the Spirit.’ This means that Jesus takes away our sins but also baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. As vessels of His Spirit, God works through us for His purposes. What an incredible privilege and responsibility!

1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

As part of the Trinity, the Spirit is God just like God the Father and the Son.  He is the divine, eternal Spirit who has been at work in the world since creation. After Christ’s resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit came to impart divine wisdom, insight, and power into the lives of believers. The church is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit - united by the Spirit.

John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father and He will give another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.”

The Spirit is an advocate on our behalf. He is our ‘helper’ in navigating our faith journey giving us insight and inspiration in many areas:

Assurance: The Holy Spirit is God’s seal identifying us as His own. We are to live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, keep in step with the Spirit, and follow His promptings.  

Comforter:  He comforts us in times of need. 

Teacher:  He gives us wisdom and understanding. The Spirit believes, loves, defends, and teaches the truth. We need His illumination to understand and apply God’s Word.

John 14:26 “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” 

Works:  We can testify to what God has done in us and through us as we bear witness for the Gospel.  We are instruments to represent God in power and love through gifts of the Spirit.  

 Convicts:  The Holy Spirit convicts us when we have sin in our hearts.  He will illuminate our sin and lead us to repentance and renewal.

 John 16:8 “When the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world, and show where right and wrong and judgement lie.  He will convict us” 

Guidance:  We sort through the noise of many voices to find the voice of truth. The Holy Spirit is the still small voice of God that will lead us and guide us.  

John 16:13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.

Obedience: Defeat and failure are unavoidable without divine power in our lives. The law of God is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He not only teaches us but also give us the power to obey. 

Ask God to help you stay in tune with the work of the Spirit in your life. The Spirit will produce good fruit in us like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The deeds of the flesh - envy, idolatry, impurity and anger will diminish. This is the transforming power of God’s amazing gift.

Stay Hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

Circumstances

Romans 8:37 “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

It is challenging for us to live victoriously as an “overcomer” when we are experiencing the pain and brokenness of the tribulations in life.  In this fallen world we all face varying degrees of trials. Some Christians believe that if we are walking with the Lord, all will go well within our relationships, vocations, and health. God’s Word and story tell us differently. The gospel is a love story of pain, sacrifice, and tribulation — even unto death. This reality is noted throughout the New Testament and is highlighted by the Biblical analogy “of us all having our own cross to carry.”  

 Overcoming begins with an Eternal Perspective. We know that this life is temporary and the life to come is eternal. If we truly understand and receive this truth, we can have victory over any situation because we know the final outcome.  Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are on the winning team no matter what the scoreboard of life says. Our circumstances will never tell us how much God loves us.

Circumstances don’t make or break us, they reveal us.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

 God allows the pain and trials of life to test and refine us into the image of Christ. God uses our trials to accomplish His will. Difficult experiences are given to us for our good, for the benefit of others, and for God’s glory. When we’re going through hard times, it’s comforting to know that nothing can touch a believer’s life unless the Lord allows it. He has complete control even in our most difficult and painful circumstances. Through it all, we’re being held firmly in our Father’s loving hand, and His good purpose is being worked out in our life.

We rejoice in our circumstances.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

When we are going through a difficult season, we are called to rejoice. We may not be happy with our circumstances, but with an eternal perspective, we always rejoice in our standing before God. We are certainly free to work to change our situation, but we must also be aware that our present situation may be intended to change us. We will reap the spiritual benefits of the Lord’s work in us.

Keep your gaze on God, and only glance at your circumstances.

 Our eyes will tell the story. Living only by sight will get us in trouble. The more that our eyes are fixed on ourselves, the more that we will fight discouragement having only our own strength and wits to rely upon. Discouragement will fall away when our gaze is fixed on the Lord and His promises to us. Living by faith means that we don’t have to face any situation alone. It also means that we have the divine power and strength of God on our side as we fight our battles. Gazing upon the unseen God requires faith – the very faith that saves us.

Good Saul, Bad Saul - Part 3 of 3

We are at our worst when we fail to acknowledge God in our successes and when we miss the opportunity to learn from our failures.

Both of these mistakes led to King Saul’s downfall. After a great start in crediting God for his early success, Saul started “drinking his own Kool Aid” and thumping his own chest. He stopped giving credit to God whom placed him in his position. He also kept repeating his mistakes after plenty of opportunities to learn and repent from his failures. Pride was the culprit in both cases.

Pride takes our eyes off of God and focuses them back on ourselves like it did with Saul. Pride creates multiple forms of blindness:

Pride is something that is easy to see in others but is difficult to see in ourselves. If anyone is asked to come up with a mental picture of pride, they would never come up with an image of themselves. It would always be of someone else. This certainly makes pride a difficult sin to deal with because it often lives in us undetected like an invisible poisonous gas in the air.

“Pride is the carbon monoxide of sin. It silently and slowly kills you without you even knowing it.” Tim Keller

Pride makes us blind to our own issues and causes us to blame others when things go wrong. There are several examples of Saul doing this in 1 Samuel. He blamed others for his own disobedience. This disobedience led to losing God’s favor and ultimately his life and monarchy. His blindness made him bitter and paranoid since he wasn’t able to see his own issues and fully understand why he had lost God’s favor.

Pride inhibits our ability to see a clear path forward for growth and restoration. It’s hard to fight an enemy that we can’t see. It’s only when we take our eyes off of ourselves and focus them on Go that we are able to truly repent of our sins. True repentance is not just an acknowledgement of our sin, but a desire to “turn from” sin and go in a different direction.

We can blindly place ourselves in opposition to God with our pride. He hates pride and tells us this in the Bible in 22 different places.

1 Peter 5:5 …for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

We clearly don’t want to place ourselves in opposition to God nor do we want to forgo our opportunity to receive the grace that he gives to the humble. We are wise when we hate what God hates.

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way…

Ask God this week to expose any blind spots in your life and help you see where pride may be hiding.

Stay humble,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

Spiritual Disciplines

Spiritual disciplines are practices and experiences that help strengthen our faith and more fully experience the abundance of an intimate relationship with God. Some of the disciplines of our Christian faith are studying the Bible, prayer, fasting, fellowship, purity, stewardship, obedience, evangelism, confession, solitude, and self-examination. Everyone’s path will look different but a saving faith will produce a desire to employ these practices in growing closer to God and being more like Him.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.”

The personal disciplines you form, will end up forming you. The disciplines that we cultivate truly impact who we become. If we want our true identity to be in Christ, we must form habits that lead us to Him. Our old worldly habits will produce the same old results. As new creations in Christ, our new habits produce a more Christlike life.

Romans 12:2 “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

 As our minds are continually transformed, we will experience the fruit of a deeper relationship with the Lord. We will learn to recognize God’s voice over the voices of culture. We will make better decisions as we actively seek His will. We will experience inner peace and be less impacted by external circumstances. A stronger faith will give us moral courage and perseverance during hardships. A closer walk with God exposes our flaws as we get a glimpse of His perfection in our sanctification journey.

 The inspiration of God often requires the perspiration of man.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

 There are profound parallels between training the physical body and the spiritual soul.  Spiritual disciplines are ways for us to grow in spirit and expand the breadth of our inner life through structured workouts of the soul. Some spiritual disciplines are personal inward exercises that are practiced alone while others are practiced in community.  Faith without discipline requires less effort but produces less fruit.  Daily and consistent spiritual disciplines produce spiritual fruit in our lives - fruit that will last for eternity. 

 The pain of discipline is less than the pain of regret. Our highest calling in life is to have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Without intentionality, we risk missing out on the incredible riches and freedom of a closer walk with God. Disciplines of the faith are easy to do, but they are also easy not to do. True freedom comes when we consistently and deliberately practice these disciplines in seeking and celebrating God.

Woundedness

Life wounds each of us. Disappointments, betrayal, and our own mistakes can leave deep and lasting wounds. We may not be conscious of a wound’s existence or its effect on our lives, but the infection of woundedness keeps us from experiencing the complete joy and freedom God offers.  

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

If the Enemy cannot change our eternal destiny, then he would love to see us lead unfruitful lives bound in misery. He tries very hard to keep us from our full potential. He wants to raise doubts in our minds about our worthiness of God with all our scars. God’s plan is the opposite. The abundant life He offers includes healing for our woundedness and the security of His full acceptance.

Isaiah 53:5-6 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

God understands suffering. Jesus shared our lot in life by experiencing the suffering of our broken world first-hand. He faced the very personal pain of betrayal, abandonment, humiliation, and profound physical trauma. Christ had to first suffer and die before the resurrection. Darkness always precedes the dawn of a new day.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

God is with us in our pain. We must bring our woundedness before our Heavenly Father. He already knows our wounds and calls us to Him for healing. At times we want to hide our woundedness in shame or try to fix ourselves before approaching God. Our hope for healing is to come to the Healer. He is the Balm of Gilead, the Restorer of our souls. In Him, our faith and hope are rebuilt and strengthened, and we’re set back on course.

Romans 5:3-5 we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us

The sufferings we endure are not meaningless. When we put ourselves in the hands of God by faith, our sufferings are invested with another purpose. God speaks to us amid our sufferings and builds something of value in our character as we persevere. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we feel Jesus’ presence. His goodness breaks into our broken places and brings us  comfort, love and hope in unexpected ways.

God whispers in our pleasures but shouts in our pain. C.S. Lewis

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

Good Saul, Bad Saul - Part 2 of 3

As mentioned in Part 1 of this series on the life of Saul, he got off to a good start in his role as the first king of Israel. He won his first big battle against the Ammonites and gave God the credit for the victory. He even gave grace to some Israelite detractors that weren’t pleased with him being selected as king. Leadership - check; humility - check; grace - check. A great start.

Unfortunately, this upward trajectory did not last. The downward spiral began with only “partial” obedience to specific commands that he had been given from God through Samuel. He also became impatient and began to take various matters into his own hands without waiting on guidance from God. You can clearly see the shift of his focus from a life of reverence and obedience to God to one that focused inwardly on himself. He started drinking his own kool-aid and chose to life by sight and not by faith.

2 Corinthians 5:6-7 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight

Living only by sight is dangerous. We are visual creatures and sight is a blessing. God gave us our eyes to see the beauty of His creation as well as the opportunities and obstacles in life. However, when we chose only to live by sight we are missing a great element of the Christian journey - walking by faith.

Walking by sight alone leads us to fear and self-absorption. We focus on our solutions, our capabilities and our agenda. Walking by faith completely changes our perspective. We recognize the presence and power of the God of the Universe in any and all situations. We live in His strength, His wisdom and under His protection.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

The Word builds our confidence - the “world” will erode it. The more exposure that we have to God’s Word, the stronger our faith will be. We need frequent and solid doses of God’s Word or we are susceptible to living by sight alone. Our Enemy knows this and loves to distract us with all kinds of “shiny objects.” The Word of God is like meals that bring nourishment. If we go without food for a long time, we’ll resort to eating most anything. The same is true if we starve ourselves from God’s Word. We will be drawn to the “allures of the world.”

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

Our hope is in the unseen - that’s faith. When we place our hope in the “seen” as we look for fulfillment - we are walking by sight. It’s really that simple.

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

The Empty Tomb

We loved having everyone at the lake this past weekend! There is nothing like having everyone together.

I wrote this blog last year for Easter. The message of Easter doesn’t change so it bears repeating. God willing, you’ll see it again next year, ha. We love ya’ll!

Matthew 28: 5-7 “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead’”

Everything hinged on the tomb being empty when the women arrived early that morning. We have many symbols for our Christian faith - the manger, the fish and the cross, to name a few. But without an “empty tomb,” what would they really mean?

Christianity was born during Jesus’s public ministry which started around 30 A.D. His entire ministry lasted a short 3 1/2 years before his death on the cross. He was condemned by the Jews and put to death by the Romans. Amazingly, the Roman Empire became a Christian nation about 350 years after the crucification and resurrection.

Roman Emperor Constantine began to give Christians protections under his reign around 300 A.D. He was not even a Christian at that time but did come to the faith in his final days. In 381 A.D., almost 50 years after Constantine died, Christianity became the state religion of Roman Empire - the same Empire that put Jesus to death.

Christianity would have died right after the crucifixion had the tomb not been empty. The promises made in the Bible about the Messiah would not have been true if the tomb had not been empty. The Roman Empire would not have become a Christian nation three centuries after the crucifixion if the tomb had not been empty. Christianity wouldn’t have subsequently spread all around the world if the tomb had not been empty.

What would your life look like right now without an empty tomb? That is an extremely unsettling and depressing thought because the entirely of our lives are based on the fact that it was.

I Peter 1:3 "He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

The empty tomb fulfills the promise of a Messiah that showed us how to live and then saved us through His death. Easter celebrates the “new birth” that we all experienced when we became Christians as well as the “living hope” that helps us navigate this life as we live with the promise of eternal life with God. The empty tomb made it so.

Stay Hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

Good Saul, Bad Saul - Part 1 of 3

Saul was the first king of Israel. He was chosen by God to be king after the people demanded a “man king.” Israel was God’s chosen people and God was their king, but all of the nations around them had kings and they wanted one as well. The surrounding nations posed military threats to Israel so the people were looking for a military leader that could protect them against their adversaries.

There are many lessons from the life of Saul and his selection as king that we can all learn from. He actually started out well in his role as king but his success wasn’t lasting. Saul initially had God’s favor but lost it as he began to look inward for answers rather than to God. He became prideful, disobedient and eventually paranoid - constantly looking over his shoulder. His life was marked by fear instead of faith.

Be careful what you wish for. The Israelites went to their leader Samuel (Judge & Prophet) and demanded a “man king.” Samuel did not want to grant their request but decided to pray about it. God instructed him to give them what they asked for. However, God told Samuel to warn them about the consequences of their request and give them an opportunity to change their minds.

It’s important to point out that the first thing that Samuel did after the Israelites came to him with their demand was to pray. Conversely, it seems doubtful that the Israelites did much praying before making their request.

We can always do more than pray after we have prayed but not until we have prayed.

While Samuel did not want to give them what they asked for, he chose to seek God’s will rather than his own. This is what we are doing when we earnestly seek God in prayer - we are trying to determine His will over our own. Our righteous prayers will bend our will to His.

Be careful what you wish for. God’s decision to give the Israelites a king came with this warning:

1 Samuel 8:18 “And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

God was allowing the Israelites to have what they wanted even though He knew that it wouldn’t be good for them and they would regret the decision. Of course, this was all part of God’s sovereign plan that led the way for Jesus to come to the earth through the lineage of King David. But, this plan also seems to be an opportunity to teach the Israelites a lesson for rejecting God as their King.

Be careful what you wish for. We all have our desires for how we want our lives to play out. We have a “script” in mind and we hope that life goes according to script. As followers of Christ, our foremost desire should be to glorify God. This means that we are willing to seek His will over our own - His script. This certainly doesn’t mean that we cannot make requests to God but those requests should come in conjunction with a desire to align our will to His.

Faith is believing in God. Trusting in Him is believing that He has our best interests at heart.

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

A Mind of Dependence

Proverbs 23:7 - For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

“So he is” - This spiritual truth can feel both liberating and quite convicting. Our minds are where we can be totally ourselves. In our minds we can be thankful, offer praise and pray to our Heavenly Father. We can think about the goodness of God and how we want to serve Him and others. The mind can be a treasure chest of all that is good, holy, and righteous in our lives.

The mind can also be a place where the worst in us lives. All sorts of immoral thoughts like ungratefulness, judgment, jealousy, and anger can run rampant in our minds. We may believe that these thoughts are hidden from others, but, as this verse teaches us – we become what’s in our minds. Left to our own devices, we will end up living ungodly and self-absorbed lives.

God desires that we develop a “mind of dependence.”  The secular world often portrays dependence as a weakness. We are led to believe that a life of independence is what we should strive for. The Christian life calls us to surrender to God’s authority in every area of our lives. We become dependent upon His guidance and seek His will over our own. Our greatest strength becomes our dependence upon Him as we pursue righteousness and bearing fruit in His Kingdom.

Abiding is the path to a “mind of dependence.”  

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

An abiding relationship with Christ (the vine) is developed when we intentionally and regularly spend time with Him. We have an enemy of our soul that works relentlessly to keep us from this powerful connection with Christ with endless pursuits to distract us. Abiding requires initiative on our part in prioritizing time to daily commune with Him. Discipline in pursuing Him each day will grow into desire and ultimately lead to dependence.

God desires our “First Fruits.”  The first of the Ten Commandments tells us that we “should have no other gods before Him.” The principle of “First Fruits” means that we make our relationship with Him our “first” and highest priority. We willingly commit to regular time in prayer and studying His Word. We also give Him the first and best of our talents and resources by serving in Kingdom work and giving back a portion that He has given to us.  

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Jesus is clear when He tells us that, “If we seek Him first, then we will find Him and live fruitful lives.” Faithful abiding is the most important pursuit for a follower of Christ in developing a “mind of dependence.” Dependence upon Christ leads us to the abundant life that we all desire.

A Soul of Obedience

A great irony of the Christian faith involves obedience. Many reject our faith because they don’t want to give up certain “freedoms” in their lives. Ironically, these same “freedoms” actually lead to bondage - addictions, idols, opinions of others, endless pursuit of pleasure etc... Alternatively, a life of faithful obedience to God’s commandments leads us to true freedom.

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdens

Everyone wants a savior, not everyone wants a “Lord.” A saving faith requires that we willingly submit to God’s authority in every area of our lives. We recognize that our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us and we seek His will through obedience. Culture encourages us to live an independent and self-centered life, devoid of any authority other than ourselves. This life of total independence leads us to bondage as we become imprisoned by desires that can never be satisfied.

 Psalm 119:44-45 I will always obey your law forever and ever, I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts.

 Boundaries don’t restrict our freedom; they protect our freedom. This principle is true in every area of our lives. We must have healthy boundaries in our relationships, finances and fitness or we will be very disappointed with the results. Boundaries provide guardrails that produce health, protection, and freedom.

Our Creator knows and wants what is best for us. He designed us for a life of obedience. His commandments give us boundaries that protect us spiritually, physically, and emotionally. This passage in Psalms encourages us to live a life of obedience – one that prospers and thrives:

 Psalms 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

 The Christian life is freedom from sin - not freedom to sin.

 Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature: rather, serve one another in love.

 We have freedom from our sins through our faith in Jesus Christ. His gift of grace is a blessing but not a license for habitual sin. Though we will fall short and stumble, it doesn’t mean we should ever get comfortable having sin in our lives. God hates sin and our hearts should be aligned with His so that we hate sin as well. A saving faith will condition our hearts with a desire to please and obey God because of our love for Him. This is the path to the true freedom that we all seek.

A Heart of Gratitude

Gratitude is more than just a feeling of blessedness; it is our spiritual condition that comes from the full awareness of our status as God’s adopted sons and daughters. Developing a heart of gratitude is one of the keys to a healthy Christian life.

Gratefully, we are able to understand who God is.  He is our Abba Father, who loves us and desires to walk with us in intimate fellowship. He is our triune God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who gives us abundant life and the promise of eternity with Him.  

Gratefully, we recognize what God has done for us. He is our Savior and Redeemer. We know that Jesus Christ gave His life for our salvation, yet we get sidetracked and caught up in the affairs of this world. These affairs can create fear or anxiety which stand in the way of living with a grateful heart. We need to remember the promises of this verse:

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe

We are receiving a “kingdom that cannot be shaken!” Our government, economy, culture, and our health can all be shaken but, thankfully, God’s Kingdom cannot.

Gratefully, we can live with joy through all the highs and lows of life.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This passage gives us three specific commands for how to live with a spirit of thankfulness - even when our circumstances are not what we desire.

“Rejoice always” - We are encouraged to rejoice always because joy is a permanent condition that originates from our salvation.  Joy is not based on good days or bad days, but on our eternal destiny. Joy never leaves us.

“Pray continuously” - Our communication with God should be continuous – an unending conversation. He loves to hear from us at any time and we should always feel comfortable coming to Him in prayer. Our prayers will not always be answered in the way or timing that we expect, but He always provides an answer. Prayer is one of God’s greatest gifts to us.  

“Give thanks in all circumstances” - Notice that the verse doesn’t say to give thanks “for” all circumstances but “in” all circumstances. This one word makes quite a difference! We may not be thankful for certain circumstances in our lives, but during them, we are called to be grateful.  We are certainly free to work to try to change our circumstances, but we are called to always give thanks as we endure. The peace that God offers will ultimately change us.

Thank God today for your citizenship in His “unshakable Kingdom” and go live in such a way that someone else will want to know why you have such a grateful heart.

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

The Generous Life

Outpost 

God has created and equipped us for a life of generosity. He has given us all a unique collection of talents and resources. As His handiwork, we are called to use these gifts to respond to the “two greatest commandments” – to love God and to love His people. Loving others goes hand-in-hand with generosity. You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving.

Ephesians 2:10 We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

We are stewards, not owners. God is our provider, and He is the owner of all things. The Generous Life calls us to live with the mindset and character of a steward. A steward is defined as one who manages or looks after another’s property. Our role as stewards is to faithfully manage all that God has given to us. This means that we are accountable for our giftings and possessions and take responsibility for them. As devoted stewards, we seek His will for our lives so that we will be found faithful with how we manage our time, talent, and treasure.

1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful

Stewards are available. Stewards create margin in their lives to be available for the opportunities God lays before them. The enemy doesn’t want us to be available. He wants us to be enslaved to our resources so that we will be ineffective for God’s kingdom. Generosity brings a life of abundance to those who are “rich in good works.”  

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Stewards practice Biblical principles with their resources. Financial freedom comes when we accept and practice biblical principles with our finances. The Bible has much to say about money and possessions including many of Jesus’s parables. Living within our means and the pursuit of contentment are godly practices that help free us from the bondage that comes with the “love of money.” Money is a terrible master but can be an excellent servant.

Mark 8:36 “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul”

Stewards have a heart of generosity. God is a giver. He has given us everything that we have along with an incredible opportunity to spend eternity with Him. As followers of Christ, we can do many godly things – pray, read our bibles and worship. However, we are most like Him when we are giving. Our desire to be like Him includes developing and living with a heart of generosity.

The Connected Life

Outpost 

God did not create is to do life alone. He designed us to live in fellowship with Himself and in community with others connected by our common faith. The connected life is lived in healthy interdependent relationships allowing the Body of Christ to function in fullness.

Romans 12:4-5 “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” 

Community is Healthy and Life Giving – Life-giving community lifts us up and brings out the best in each of us. We use our God-given gifts to love, encourage and serve others as we grow in Christian maturity.

Hebrews 10:24-25 Let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another

 It’s been said that one can “show me your friends and I will show you your future.” The truth is that we ultimately become who we commune with. We need to develop community with others that share the core values of our faith and have a desire to grow into their God given potential.  We need people in our lives who are authentic and speak the truth in love with our best mutual interests at heart. We also need those that will challenge us and hold us accountable if we are headed down a wrong path.

Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

 Community is Covering and Protection – One of the realities of life is that we all face trials and adversities.  A strong support system around us provides a base of encouragement and protection. We comfort and strengthen each other in our faith with words, physical presence, and prayer. Community gives us the opportunity to point one another to the hope and promises of God while maintaining an eternal perspective amid life’s temporal troubles. Battles are not meant to be fought in isolation. Encouragement and wise counsel are offered by community as we persevere and seek God’s guidance. 

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”

Community is Ministry – Community opens our eyes to the needs of others. We are called out of our self-centeredness and self-absorption with the responsibility to look outward. We seek to strengthen those who are weak and encourage those who are down and out. God calls us to invest in others.

The connected life is a gift from God and is filled with an abundance of blessings through the Body of Christ. When we grow in our relationships with others through authentic and vulnerable community, we are maturing in our relationship with God. We truly are better together.

The Abiding Life

Outpost

As followers of Christ, we all want to live a fruitful and spirit-filled life. The key to our success is learning to abide daily with Him. Abiding is our foundation for living a God-centered and abundant life.  

Abiding is not a destination but a journey. As we focus each day on growing closer to Him, we grow in spiritual maturity. The Holy Spirit is our “helper” along the way. Gratitude, obedience and a growing dependence upon Him are fruits of the abiding life.

John 15:4-5 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

This passage provides a metaphor for our abiding relationship with Christ. Christ Himself is the vine and we are the branches. Abiding keeps us connected to the vine. At times we are tempted to pray, “Lord, help me to live my life for You.” Instead, we should pray, “Lord Jesus, live out Your life through me.” We have life because of our connectedness to the vine.

Verse 5 closes with “for without Me you can do nothing.” This means that without Christ, we can do nothing of eternal value. A vine branch is useless for making furniture or for building homes. It does not even make good firewood. Its purpose is for bearing fruit —as long as it abides in the vine. When we are walking with Him, His life pours out of us producing the fruits of the Spirit.

We all experience a variety of seasons in our personal devotional lives. Some of these seasons are incredibly fruitful like Spring or Summer with a consistent growth of flowers and green grass. Other seasons seem like Fall when our intimacy with God declines. Winter arrives when we go stretches without real quality time with God. The great news is that He is always there waiting for us reach out to Him. When we get it right, it’s like a conversation that never ends. We never hang up the phone.

It’s been said that “the inspiration of God often requires the perspiration of man.” Our level of intensity and consistency in the pursuit of God produce the different seasons in our abiding journey. We are exactly as close to Him as we desire to be. If we hunger and thirst for a growing relationship with Him, it requires diligence on our part.  

Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

The abiding life is a journey that leaves the handprints of God all over us. We grow more and more like Him - our highest calling in life.  

Law of Diminishing Returns

Outpost

The Law of Diminishing Returns is based on the idea that the more that you do anything, the less it satisfies. We all desire to be satisfied so this principal has huge implications for our passions in life. Our relationship with God is the one exception to this law.

As we study the Old Testament, we learn that many nations bowed down to idols. They made golden calves and elaborate poles to symbolize the various gods that they worshipped. It’s easy to look down on them and believe that we would never do anything like that. The truth is that we have our own version of “golden calves.” We make idols out of many things - money, status, appearance, hobbies and even our favorite sports teams.   

The first of the Ten Commandments provide very clear instruction from God regarding idols:

Exodus 20:3-4 You shall have no other gods before me.

By citing “other gods” in this commandment, doesn’t that make the assumption that there are “other gods?” The answer is both yes and no. Notice that the letter g in “other gods” is not capitalized. When we refer to the true God, we always capitalize the G. There is only one “big G” God; however, we are guilty of making “little g” gods. “Little g” gods are the idols of our culture and are created by us just like the golden calves of the Old Testament.  

The Law of Diminishing Returns applies directly to our idols. They never fully satisfy us and will always lead to frustration and emptiness. Many of the idols we create are not bad things. We are free to enjoy our work, take care of our bodies, invest wisely and enjoy leisure time. However, when we allow any of these to become imbalances in our lives and compete with our affection for God, we run the risk of creating a “little g” god.

Idols easily draw our attention because they are visible and part of our daily lives. Culture deceives us and tells us that we will be happy and satisfied we have them. Ultimately, we must learn the truth of diminishing returns or we will just to move on to another idol with the same promise of satisfaction.   

How do we know if we have idols in our lives? We must begin by asking ourselves if there is anything that competes with our love for God and disproportionately occupy our thoughts, time and resources? Idols live in those places.

Jesus tells us how we can be satisfied in the opening passage of his famous Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Ultimate satisfaction in this life comes from pursuing the everlasting God - not the temporal allures of this world. As we “hunger and thirst” for His righteousness, we find the only true source of satisfaction.    

An Evaluated Life

“A life not evaluated is not worth living.” 

In our present culture we have many options for keeping ourselves occupied. This makes it very easy to go for long stretches without any real time of reflection in our lives. Without taking time to reflect on where we are and where we are heading, we may find ourselves slowly but surely drifting off-course.

Consistent reflection time helps us remain centered in life’s greatest priorities. It gives us time to identify these priorities, make plans around them, and evaluate our progress. It also helps expose areas in our lives that need closer attention. Certain sins and idols can be blind spots for us if we never unplug with quiet times of reflection. 

An evaluated life also produces a “growth mindset”. This passage from Ephesians illustrates this process of spiritual growth for followers of Christ:

Ephesians 4:14-16 “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

As we grow in spiritual maturity, we learn to avoid the influences of the secular world by training our ears to hear the Voice of Christ over the voices of culture. We also find our place in the Body of Christ where we live and serve. In order for us to grow, we must take an intentional approach to growth. We need to determine the areas of our spiritual lives in which we want to grow and take the appropriate steps. Our prayer life, consistency in worship, areas of service, and Christian community all need to be evaluated from time to time.   

Consistent times of reflection promote a “growth environment” which enables us to seek clarity and vision as we have intimate time with God. Healthy things grow, and growing things change. A greenhouse provides a healthy environment for plants to thrive. This same “greenhouse effect” is created for us when we have quality times of reflection. Growth doesn’t always come easily, but it will come if we seek it intentionally.

A life worth living is one that continually seeks God’s guidance in directing our passions. Reflection time doesn’t just help reorder our lives, it allows Him to rightly order our loves. 

Outposts

I am going to be writing a blog twice per month for JH Ranch/Outback called Outposts. I have started working on the series for Year 1 and we will start publishing them in the next month or so. The Outposts will be about common JH topics along with different spiritual growth tracks. It’s a big undertaking but I am excited about doing it. In our family blog for the next few months, I’ll be giving you a sneak preview of what will be coming up in Outposts. Sorry for the redundancy from some of my prior blogs but this will keep me from having to write 2 separate ones while I am working on Year 1. Here we go…

I heard and I forgot, I saw and I remembered, I did and I understood.

This may be the most memorable of all the sayings from JH Ranch. Where else would we go but the book of James for a scripture reference to capture the meaning of this phrase?

James 1:22-25 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

“Hearer” - I heard and I forgot: Hearing God’s Word is vitally important. We need to hear the Word of God taught to us by those devoted to understand and teach it properly. Hearing is a key part of our weekly worship and we need a steady diet of this solid food to grow spiritually. However, hearing alone won’t transform our lives the way God intends. We might forget. This passage teaches that we “deceive ourselves” if we think otherwise.

“Seer” – I saw and I remembered: Seeing the love of Christ displayed by others is powerful. We have all been impacted observing others extend forgiveness, mercy and generosity. We have even been blessed to be a beneficiary of these Christlike acts. They impact us in such a way that we remember them and are inspired to go and do the same. Seeing is memorable.

“Doer” – I did and I understood: This is the life God is calling us to – the life of a doer. Once we hear His truths and see His goodness, we will apply His Word in our own life. The “doing” is the evidence of the truths we have heard and seen. Doing sinks roots in our hearts to change us into the image of Christ. Jesus is a doer of God’s Word and we are called to imitate Him.  

As followers of Christ, we each have a unique calling. He gifts us to play specific roles in loving and serving others in His Kingdom work. As the hands and feet of Christ, our job is to find our gifts and learn how to use them for God’s glory. The “doing” is the true richness of life.  

Hearing is educational – Seeing is inspirational – Doing is transformational

What can you do today to display your love for God and others of what we have heard and seen?

Stay Hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

Global Christianity in Perspective

We all enjoy lists from time to time. It helps put things in perspective as we make comparisons and quantify different things of interest. The results can be very revealing.

I found the list below in a Christian publication and it gave me a fresh perspective of global Christianity. For the purposes of the list, they basically scaled everything to 100. In other words, if there were only 100 Christians in the world, these are the demographics of what they would be comprised of:

• 67 would live in Asia, Africa, Latin America or Oceania - 33 would live in Europe or Northern America (only 10 of these would speak English as their first language)

• 65 would live in urban areas - 35 would live in rural areas

• 64 would be between the ages of 15–64, 26 would be under 15

• 11 would be illiterate

• 35 would have little to no access to secondary education

• 53 would have access to the internet

• 14 would have no access to safe water

• 5 would have malaria

• 79 would live in countries with moderate to high corruption

• 35 would live in countries with low development

• 34 would have inadequate access to doctors

“According to these statistics, the typical Christian today is a non-white woman living in the global southern hemispheres with lower-than-average levels of societal safety and proper health care. This represents a vastly different typical Christian than that of 100 years ago, who was likely a white, affluent European.”

The demographics of Christianity have certainly changed. Collectively, we have gotten darker, (more hispanic, Asian and African) poorer and more dangerous. This probably is quite different that what we perceive it to be because of the “bubble” that we all live in.

340 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution and/or discrimination This represents about 15% of the total global Christian population. Additionally, close to 5000 Christians were killed for their faith in the past year. 4500 church facilities came under attack and 4300 Christians were arrested and detained.

The “persecuted church” is growing, in part, because the gospel is going to more and more places that are traditionally hostile to our faith. Persecution is also growing in places where secularism is on the rise - like the US. We may be the last to really feel it living the Bible Belt, but our own country is clearly growing more and more hostile to Christianity.

What does this all mean to us living comfortably in our Christian bubble? At a minimum, we should be praying for our brothers and sisters around the world that are suffering persecution. 10-15 will die every day for their faith and another 10-12 will be placed under arrest. Make it a point to pray for these people each week. Add them to your prayer list.

Additionally, we should be emboldened to publicly live out our faith here in the US. When we think about those risking their lives every day, it makes it a lot easier to ignore any minor persecution that we might face here. Those in our spheres of influence should know where we stand with our faith. That looks different for each of us in our respective walks of life but Christ is our common denominator.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek

In an age where people so easily want to proclaim their identity with their favorite sports team, political beliefs and all sorts of other affiliations, does our allegiance to Christ shine through the brightest of all?

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

Dr. Frank Barker - The Green Chairs

As you know, Dr. Frank Barker passed away this past week. There are so many things that could be said about Dr. Barker that it’s difficult to even know where to start. Three traits that stand out to me were his humility, love for evangelism and commitment to prayer.

I’ve heard the story of the “Green Chairs” a few times and to me, it epitomizes his life and ministry. Many years ago when Briarwood met in a storefront in Cahaba Heights near where the Barkers lived, Frank would go all over the local neighborhoods meeting and talking with people about Christ. He lead many to the Lord that way and this was likely the single most effective way that he grew Briarwood Church.

One day Frank met a man named Hilton Piper who came to him with some problems that he was having. Hilton wasn’t a Christian and had only come to church because his wife dragged him there. Frank told him that he needed to start praying about his problems and the man just couldn’t accept that as an acceptable solution. He didn’t believe in God and certainly not in the power of prayer.

Frank invited Hilton to come to their Wednesday night prayer group. He reluctantly came but made it clear to the group that he didn’t believe that God answered prayers but that he needed help from somewhere. The other men asked what they could do to help him and he said that he needed help believing before he could turn to prayer as a solution to his problems. He needed to see how God answers prayer.

He asked the men what they had been praying about and they had been focusing on growing church attendance. It was Summer so attendance had been down due to families traveling and such. Hilton suggested that maybe they could pray that God would fill the church, specifically, this coming Sunday. The men were reluctant to go along since it was Summer and they had not been close to being full since Easter. But they decided to go along with this approach and trust God with the results. They needed to define what “full” meant so they agreed that it would be when they had to bring out the green wooden chairs that had only been used for the Easter Sunday crowd.

Sunday came and Dr. Barker walked up to the pulpit for the opening prayer. There was a good crowd there but not quite an Easter Sunday attendance. However, he did notice as he looked out of the storefront that there were still cars streaming in. He decided to have an extra long opening prayer to give everyone time to arrive. As he finished, the green chairs were being brought out to accommodate the late arrivals.

Hilton Piper gave his life to Christ that day and went on to become a fixture in that Wednesday evening prayer group and Briarwood Church. This simple but powerful story is but one of hundreds where God worked through the life of Frank Barker to accomplish Kingdom work.

Dr. Barker was certainly a talented man but, more than anything, he was willing and available. At the graveside service, we were all touched and inspired when his daughter said that he wanted to be buried in his camel hair blazer with his Briarwood name tag affixed to the lapel. This was his work uniform where he faithfully reported for duty every day. It was perfectly fitting for a man that never stopped living out God’s calling in his life.

Thank you Dr. Barker for creating Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Briarwood Christian School and for showing us what a life of Christian service looks like. Our family has been profoundly impacted in more ways than we can count.

Stay hungry,

Big E

Matt. 5:6

2022 - How is your Vision?

How is your vision? If you came from my gene pool, then you have a decent chance of having poor eyesight. Sorry about that but thank the Lord for LASIK!!

How about your “vision” for your life? The start of the new year is always a great time to assess where one stands on the important things in life. We can fix poor eyesight with LASIK surgery but what if we lack good vision for our lives?

Helen Keller famously said, “The only thing that is worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

Here are a few thing to consider as we seek to create the right vision for our lives:

1) Vision gives us a glimpse of “not what is, but what could be.”

Having a vision for our lives gives us an opportunity to dream and to create a roadmap for the direction that we want our lives to take. It has been said that “we are limited not by our abilities but by our vision.”

2) Vision for our tomorrows produces passion for today.

This doesn’t mean that we live for tomorrow or are constantly preoccupied with our future, but it gives us a passion that fuels and orders our steps for today.

3) Vision helps to keep us to keep moving when we encounter obstacles

Just because we have a clear vision for where we may be headed in life, it doesn’t mean that we won’t face challenges. However, the “clearer our vision,” the more committed that we will be to it as we persevere through obstacles.

4) Vision provides clarity and focus.

This world creates a lot of “noise” that is easily distracting. It’s easy to get swept up in cultural waves that are widely accepted but may be inconsistent with our vision for ourselves and our families. We have to be willing to go against the current sometimes. The stronger our vision, the better our filter will be in weeding these distractions out.

5) A Christian worldview will shape and refine our vision during our lives.

C.S. Lewis frames this best with these words:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it but because by it, I can see everything else.”

Take some time think about your vision for this year and beyond and write it down. The 5 F’s is a good way of doing this in part. Also, ask yourself a couple of questions - Am I doing the right things today that will enable me to fulfill my vision for the future? What changes do I need to make to do so?

I wish each of you all of God’s blessings for 2022!

Happy New Year,

Big E

Matt. 5:6