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As you face what promises to be, or may become, a difficult week, I encourage you to consider the 37th Psalm. It is one of my favorites; filled with the promises of God for difficult days; and instruction for the appropriation of those promises. Here are a few examples:
Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
And wither as the green herb. vv. 1-2
Reading what this psalm has to say about evildoers will give you a heart of sympathy for them. You may even start seeing them as deceived prisoners that could use some help being made free.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday. vv. 5-6
God allows difficult circumstances to prove what we believe in our heart. Pass this test and you will find yourself in a Matthew 5:16 experience.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the LORD upholds him with His hand. vv. 23-24
Here’s something to keep in mind: Falling and hitting the ground are not the same thing. Many of us trip and fall during difficult times. That does not mean we skin our knees or smash our noses. The LORD promises to uphold us. In our weakness, He is strong!
If you will allow the word of God to do its thing, Psalm 37 will not only put courage in you for this week; it will develop in you the faith and courage for difficult seasons. Taken in community, it will prepare us to face the trials and tribulations that have appeared on our near horizon.
With that in mind, please comment on the courage you received from this promising Psalm. The courage you find will encourage another.
Humbly yours and forever His,
Before we jump into this short article, I would like to remind you of a few key truths: If you are a Christian leader in the Marketplace, you are not in your position by accident. God has His eye on you; and His heart’s desires are for you. The church is as much – if not more – in your sphere of influence as it is in the place you attend on Sunday morning.
It is also no coincidence that you are reading this article at this time in the history of the church. The Sermon on the Mount, recorded primarily by Matthew and Luke, is the foundational teaching on the normal Christian life. Consequently, it is the most challenging; and that is where you come in.
God has put it in your nature to courageously face challenges. He has put it in your nature to lead others into challenges. Who do you know that is better encouraged, edified and equipped to lead the transformation that is necessary in the church today? Who is the most influential person in your sphere of influence?
Radical is the Old Normal
Our normal is so subnormal that normal seems radical. To the first century disciples, normal and radical were synonyms. We’ve turned them in antonyms. (from All In, by Mark Batterson)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus threw down the gauntlet with His disciples: Turn the other cheek, bless your enemies, go the extra mile. He wanted to see who was in and who was out. He did this multiple times during His sojourn here on earth. Many left Him; but there were a few… that grew to thousands, and turned the world upside down.
It seems to me that we have reached a point of crisis in the church. Henry Blackaby called it “the crisis of faith”. As Marketplace Leaders, it is our responsibility to deal with the crisis in God’s way. I would like to offer you a couple of truths to help you embrace the challenge of our crisis; and embrace it in a radical way. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the final installment (Part 4) of a series on the desires of our heart. Please read the first three articles before continuing here. There are important assignments in each one. Discovering and receiving the desires of your heart is a process that is well worth the time you invest. In fact, the discovering and receiving is proportional to the time invested (not unusual in the kingdom of God).
You can find the first three articles in the inLight Adventure Blog. Search for “desires” and they should appear in the results – directly after this one. Be sure to read them in date sequence.
If you have completed parts 1 through 3 and are still struggling to discover the desire God has put in your heart for this season, then this article is for you. Don’t be discouraged. Many that have been asked, “What is the desire of your heart?” have had a difficult time identifying it.
I pray the following will encourage, edify and equip you in this critical first step of your kingdom adventure. Please share anything you uncover that will help the Body of Christ in this regard. God speaks in community. I promise to pass on what the Father is saying to the church. Read the rest of this entry »
Today begins a very important year in the life of the Jewish people. From www.chabad.org:
Like the seventh day of the week, every seventh year is holy. The Shemittah (Sabbatical) year is a year devoted to strengthening our bond with God — specifically, honing our faith in His omnipotence and our trust in His kindness. This year, 5775 since creation (Sept. 25, 2014–Sept. 13, 2015), is a Shemittah year.
Keep this in mind as we search out the matter of the Shemittah and its importance for the church today – particularly the church in America. Read the rest of this entry »
Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days. Proverbs 19:20
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. Proverbs 20:5
Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty counsel. Proverbs 27:9
God speaks in community. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” I have discovered that “in the midst of them”, He always has something to say. The only time He does not speak is when the one giving and/or receiving His counsel are not prepared.
Given all that the Holy Bible has to say about godly counsel, it is not surprising that one of the more popular models for Marketplace Ministry is the Peer-to-Peer Advisory Group. I have been blessed to be a part of such a group for over three years now. It has been time well invested for the kingdom of God. BTW: If you would like to join such a group, please let me know.
My group only meets once a month, so it is important to make the most of our time together. Each member has a wealth of practical knowledge and experience to bring to the table; and there are times when practical counsel is needed. However, the most impactful counsel is the counsel that comes from the heart of God and the mind of Christ – spoken through men who have prepared themselves to speak for, and hear from, the Father and His Son. Read the rest of this entry »
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1Corinthians 16:13
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving… Colossians 4:2
As I’ve written in the past, God has blessed me with cycling. It is a threefold blessing. The most obvious blessing is the exercise. Cycling is one of the better choices for maintaining a healthy life. Like swimming, it puts very little stress on your joints and is great for your cardiovascular system. Consequently, cycling is something most can do well into their latter years.
Another blessing of cycling: I really enjoy it. You can cover more ground and see more stuff on a bicycle than you can running or swimming. There is a unique feeling of freedom when you are on a bike. If you are going to sweat, then why not enjoy doing it.
The greatest blessing I get from cycling is the communion I have with God. He is my regular cycling partner. He hears my prayer requests, gives me advice, and occasionally corrects me on our rides. I can’t tell you how many ideas He has given me while cycling. Every once in awhile, He teaches me a spiritual (cycling) lesson. Here’s one I think will edify and encourage you.
I have recently noticed that when I am pushing through a challenging section of a ride, my concentration shifts from the conversation to the obstacle. Halfway up the hill, I suddenly realize that I dropped my prayer, or let go of the scripture God was speaking to me about. Not a big deal – I normally remember where we were – but there is a lesson or two in it.
Maintaining form, cadence and breathing tempo must be second nature if I am going to make it to the top of the hill. There is simply no time or energy for these things when my mind is focused on getting my body to do something it doesn’t want to do. Form, cadence and breathing are cycling disciplines that the wise cyclist will work to refine when the going is not so tough.
Similarly, it occurs to me that we cannot wait until life gets hard to begin practicing the necessary spiritual disciplines (e.g., prayer, Bible study, beholding the glory of the Lord). These must become our very nature if we hope to thrive on the hills of life. I hope you are practicing now; for difficult days are coming soon.
The second lesson I learned relates to my communion with God during the challenging portions of my ride. As I mentioned, conversations are easily lost; as are my prayer requests for others. This may not be the case for you, but I am easily distracted.
Conversely, the hills are easier to tackle when I am praising or thanking God. Somehow I am able to focus on these mental activities; and they take my mind off the pain in my legs and lungs. Perhaps this applies as well to our times of spiritual trial and tribulation. What do you think?
God bless you with the strength and courage to face your trials and tribulations with practice discipline and proper focus. He will be with you; and you will be blessed.
Humbly yours and His forever,
Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:4-6
In Part 1 of this series, we learned that God has shared His heart’s desires with His children. These desires are different from the selfish desires of our flesh, which lead to death. In fact, pursuing the desires that God has placed in our hearts will lead to godliness and the production of much fruit. In Part 2, we explored what godliness and fruit might look like when it is manifested in our assignment.
In this, Part 3, we will search out the mystery of the heart to find the keys God has given us for receiving the desires that He has placed there. These keys are vital to the work God in doing in us to will and do to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). As disciple makers and transformation agents, we must understand and apply them for ourselves; and encourage, edify and equip others to do the same. Read the rest of this entry »
In Part 1 of this series, we learned that God has shared the desires of His heart with His children; creating a heart-tie between us and our loving Father. These desires are different from the selfish desires of the flesh, which lead to death. The word of God is alive and powerful to discern the difference; and to prepare our hearts for the word that will produce a bountiful crop of fruit and good works.
Allowing the word of God to do this preparatory work is a critical first step in discovering and receiving the desires God has put in our hearts. If the ground is not prepared, the seed will not prosper. Go back to Part 1 if you need the word to prepare your heart. You will be glad you did.
Now that you are being prepared (it is a continuing work), we will search out the awesome magnitude of the good work God intends to accomplish in our assignment; and the work He is doing to prepare us for it. Expect your paradigms to be stretched and your faith challenged. Ask the Father for the grace to hear and understand. In fact, pray this prayer for yourself (from Ephesians 1:15-21):
Heavenly Father, thank You for encouraging me to come to You as a child. God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, I pray that You would give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. May the eyes of my understanding be enlightened; that I may know what is the hope of Your calling on my life, what are the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in me, and what is the exceeding greatness of Your power toward me. I pray in according to the working of Your mighty power – the same power You worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now, let’s do some more searching! Read the rest of this entry »
God has called every leader in the Marketplace to an adventure. That adventure leads to an assignment – an assignment where the life of Jesus Christ will so shine that others will see the good work and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16; John 1:4). That assignment is the work of God that the word of God will prepare the Marketplace Leader to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). It will include the Great Commission – making disciples – and it will produce transformation in people and communities.
As we learned in The Map Maker, we don’t get to determine our adventure. Well, we can; but, in doing so, we may be pursuing an adventure that does not include God; and an assignment that will be unfruitful. This is one of the most tragic mistakes that followers of Jesus make: They fail to follow.
So, how does a follower of Jesus Christ discover the adventure and assignment God has prepared for them? It all begins – the adventure leading to the assignment – with the revelation of their heart’s desire.
That’s right; there is a desire in the heart of every Marketplace Leader for this season of their life. It is a desire that God has placed there, even before time began. It is a desire that He shares – a heart-tie with God. It is a desire that He has promised to give.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
So, how do we discern the desire of our heart? We search it out. Read the rest of this entry »
Over the years, I have been involved in a number of ministries and programs that used some form of accountability component to ensure the participants progressed in a generally positive direction. These well-intentioned efforts were effective for a time, but they were not life sustaining. I did not think much of it at the time. I simply moved on, with some measure of guilt for not being disciplined enough, or serious enough about my faith, etc.
Recently, the accountability approach to Christian growth has come back into my ministry life. In fact, I have been partnering for almost two years with another ministry to deliver a program that leans heavily on accountability. I assumed my discomfort had something to do with me; perhaps my flesh raising its rebellious head. But, as hard as I have tried, I simply have not been able to shake a growing uneasiness regarding the accountability approach to group ministry.
So, I have been asking God for grace to understand this from His perspective. He has answered that prayer. Here is what I have come to understand about accountability, as it should be used in the kingdom of God. Read the rest of this entry »
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