Category: Devotion

A Life Empowered

Posted on by FullLifeWord

The hike was her first. At age six she needed an occasional hand from her Mom, Dad, or Grandpa to climb over some of the larger rocks and logs that were sometimes encountered on the steep mountain trail.

After an hour of walking on the tree covered trail the path finally flattened out. Tall Ponderosa pines whispered above the four hikers as gentle breezes found their way through the tree’s lofty branches. After a few more minutes of  hiking, the crude trail opened up to a beautiful lush green meadow. Nearby, a small wooden bridge leading to the meadow traversed a little creek that gently gurgled along its banks. Tiny yellow and white flowers dotted the the lush mountain oasis, tended by numerous songbirds, which added to the cheery scene as they sang and chirped while darting with flashes of bright colors through the gently swaying grasses.

This regal meadow scene was surrounded by soaring snow covered mountain peaks that rose like rocky edifices from the earth. The sound of cows mooing in the distance were complemented by the lazy clanging of their cow bells. Evidently a herd of cattle spent the better part of their Summer grazing upon the rich supply of food and plentiful mountain water.

Grandpa leisurely walked the way across the meadow with his granddaughter. Mom and Dad sat near the little bridge on the skirt of the meadow under the shimmering Aspens, taking pictures and watching as the two started their walk across the meadow.

About midway the into their walk, the cows who had been grazing on the other side of the meadow, spotted the two hikers. Being curious creatures, they gradually moved as one group towards them. The little girl watched with fascination as the cows steadily closed their distance.

In time the two were surrounded by fifty to sixty cows, each wearing a copper colored cow bell that clanged with each step they made. Close up the animals were huge! The little girl appeared dwarfed by their presence.

Her Grandpa paused and took her picture with the cows while the animals milled about in the background. The cows kept their distance while looking curiously at them. Soon the little girl pulled out a small yellow disposable camera from her pink backpack, something her parents had given her prior to her big hike to the meadow. She evidently wanted a picture of her Grandpa, ideally just like the one he took of her. He dutifully followed her every direction so that she could get him framed in the perfect picture with the cows as the backdrop.

All the while this was going on, she never once was afraid or concerned about the presence of these enormous animals. Occasionally an independent minded cow would get a little to friendly and try to approach them; but Grandpa was used to being around such animals and would shoo them back a bit.

In her mind why should she be concerned? She was with Grandpa, a man that loved her, who would never place her in harms way. He seemed to understand all the things in the world that she didn’t know about. Certainly he knew they were safe standing on the dirt path in the middle of a mountain meadow surrounded by a bunch of curious cattle. The experience was one she would always remember.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we too should have a similar degree of confidence in our Heavenly Father, just as this young girl did of her grandfather.

For believers our encounters with God are through the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, the one whom Jesus promised would come after his death and resurrection. In our case, we most likely met the Holy Spirit during the period leading up to our saying “yes” to Jesus; for it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to bring about conviction of heart that leads to conversion (John 16:8-11). Conversion is the human’s turning to God. It consists of a negative and a positive element: repentance, that is, abandonment of sin; and faith, that is, acceptance of the promises and the work of Christ.”(1)

From the moment of our decision to follow Christ in faith, we are assured of our place in Heaven. Like Jesus, and because of His work on the cross, we too have overcome death. With death behind us it’s now possible for us to look forward to life in the future with confidence and peace. Charles Wesley once wrote the following lyrics in a hymn that captured this powerful realization of Christ’s work for us. In part he wrote: “Where, O Death is now thy sting?…”(2) Indeed we have much to celebrate when it comes to our decision to respond to the entreating’s of the Holy Spirit and to place our faith in Christ.

Thankfully the Holy Spirit doesn’t simply leave us hanging after we’ve made the choice to follow Christ, He remains steadfast in our lives each and every moment. Jesus told his disciples that through the Holy Spirit they would be enabled and empowered to do works far greater than even He had done in his earthly ministry (John 14:12).

That same empowerment extends to you and I today, as the Holy Spirit is present within each believer. He empowers us to do things that would normally be beyond our natural capabilities and strengths. Yet when we look back through the milestones of God sized assignments in our lives, we can’t help but to acknowledge that our apparent accomplishments ultimately found their roots in God’s empowerment via the Holy Spirit.

One need only to look at the lives of the disciples to see this to be true. In the scriptures we are presented with twelve individuals that accomplished incredible feats in just a few years after their encounter and choice to follow Jesus. They could not have by their own strength managed to have shared the gospel and carried the message of Jesus such that over two thousand years later, the gospel and good news of Christ is still changing millions of lives. Their success was not a function of their own innate abilities, rather it’s origins were from the Holy Spirit. These individuals were associated with the initial spread of the Gospel throughout the entire Roman empire! (3)

Scriptures record that thousands of Jews placed their faith in Jesus (Acts 21:20), and these were not ordinary Jews, they were committed Jews sold out to their own way of life. Luke recorded that these were people that were “zealous for the law.” This would have meant that a choice to follow Jesus was one that likely came with a steep price. Many may have had to give up respected social positions, they were likely rejected by their families and suffered great economic hardships for their choice in following Jesus. Despite the costs they embraced the message of the gospel.

It would seem unlikely that these hardcore steadfast individuals would have given much heed to the message of the gospel were it simply delivered to them by uneducated fishermen, a hated tax collector, and a former Jewish leader (Paul) that abandoned his place in society to follow Christ. Yet they were moved to follow Jesus. Why? Only the Holy Spirit could account for such empowerment. The Bible tells us that many other prominent members of society outside of Jewish circles also believed and placed their faith in Christ (Acts 17:12).

That same Holy Spirit that empowered these normal everyday people is as available to you and I today as it was for the disciples then. I would strongly encourage you to embrace the peace that comes with knowing for certain that death no longer has hold of your life. You need not fear it.

We as believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who is God, and the Bible tells us that God has his best in mind for you and I, and that his best includes God sized assignments that you and I could never accomplish without direct empowerment from the Holy Spirit.

Are you in the midst of a God sized assignment? If so, take a moment and ask God to empower you to accomplish whatever it is that he has set before you. Trust him to give you the abilities and resources to accomplish that which he has desires you to complete.

It is the desire of Jesus that we live our lives and live them to the full (John 10:10) We can only do that if we are in total reliance upon the Holy Spirit to empower us and that we genuinely believe that the work of Christ was sufficient to overcome the “sting” of death.

 

 

 

 

**************************************Notes************************

(1) Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 795.

(2) Logos Hymnal, 1st edition. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).

(3) G. W. Bromiley and J. Orr, “Christianity,” ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 661.

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2017 FullLifeWord

 

Bringing Positive Change by Seeking to Understand First

Posted on by FullLifeWord

Some years ago there was a young lady who traveled for the first time to a very poor part of the Dominican Republic. Her name was Rebecca, and she went with a group that volunteered their time to build homes for the poorest of the poor. When I speak of “homes,” keep in mind functional simplicity. The finished product was a basic structure built upon a crude concrete slab, hardly a home by most standards, little more than a shed in most places. But for many of the recipient families, these structures might be the first reliable and safe homes they have ever known.

In recalling this first visit to the Dominican Republic, Rebecca shared that she knew very little Spanish at the time,  but each day she made every effort to communicate and practice her language skills as she went about her duties during her stay. One day, while walking to a job site, she encountered one of the many children that played in the streets. The young girl was about ten years old. She asked what Rebecca’s name was, so she told the little girl that her name was “Becca,” thinking it would be easier for her to pronounce than “Rebecca.” The little girl looked perplexed and said “Bocca?” Rebecca replied; “Becca with an ‘eh’,” she told her. The girl seemed surprised as her mouth slowly formed “Bocca” again.  After a “conversation” that was part verbal and part sign language, they parted ways each going about their respective day.

The following day they once again met, but this time at the work site. On this particular occasion there where a bunch of kids that had joined the little ten year old to watch Rebecca help build a  house. During the course of the day, Rebecca noticed that every time she walked by the kids, they would ask her her name and then whisper “Bocca.” Immediately thereafter, everyone in the group would break out in uncontrollable laughter. The laughter would soon die down until she had to walk by the group again, and the entire process would repeat itself.

Finally, in mock anger, Rebecca tossed down her gloves in frustration and asked “what does ‘Bocca” mean?” One girl looked at her and slowly replied, “Cow.” That’s when it hit her, they where saying “Vaca,” Spanish for “Cow.” It was then that everyone, including Rebecca, broke out in laughter. It was an amusing moment and illustrated for her how difficult it was at times to understand some of the nuances of  language. But it also proved to be a learning experience for her as well, and in the end this clarified understanding of her name resulted in a deepening bond between her and the families she was serving.(Reflections: A Journey to the Dominican Republic)

One of the greatest challenges we often face in life is in the ability to simply understand accurately what another person is attempting to communicate. While we may not always agree with what someone might share, it’s important that we at least ensure we understand and can articulate their position back to them. In this way they we might confirm our understanding of what they just shared to us.

Over the years I’ve found there are times when I’m not the best listener, and I don’t always practice good communication skills like feeding back the topic to the speaker to ensure I actually understand their perspective. I have a feeling I may not be alone in this regard.

As followers of Christ we are actively living in a culture for which we and others we encounter may not always agree. If we are to influence our culture positively, we need to start by first ensuring that we understand and can distinguish our own views from that of the popular culture around us. This first step is necessary so that we know upfront where we are in agreement and where we might be out of alignment with popular ideas.

Scripture says that just as we have been brought into a right and healthy relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we’re to help those around us see the same love and grace that God has bestowed upon each of us, and to communicate His desire to be reconciled with each person. In that way, we are to be  “ambassadors” for Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

Our credibility for engaging the culture around us must be founded in our genuine love for those with whom we engage. Jesus said that our love for one another would be the way in which others would know that we are followers of Christ. (John 13:35 ) The scriptures share that if our love for others is not real, than we’re no better than a loud gong or clanging symbol. We’re just another voice in an already noisy world of erroneous beliefs. (1 Corinthians 13:1 )

When we encounter a contrary cultural viewpoint, we should always start our conversation by asking the Lord for wisdom and knowledge on how best to respond. Secondly, we need take the high road and not plan on “winning over” the person for whom we are in conversation. Rather, our goal is to hear out the other person’s position completely without interruption, and then to respond in a manner that leaves them with something worthy of consideration that cannot be easily swept aside.

Greg Koukl, author of numerous resources on apologetics, suggests that our primary tool in separating fact from fiction in any conversation is “reason.” In his book, “Tactics” he pointed out that the Apostle Paul often appealed to reason and other practical approaches to engage others around him. (Acts 17:2-4) Koukl also suggested that our conversations should be handled fairly, reasonably, and with a high degree of grace. In fact, we should allow enough room for our own views to be challenged with evidence, reasoning, and from Scripture.

The bottom line is that when discussing cultural values that run contrary to God’s desire for those whom he loves, we need to keep in mind that our goal is to testify by word, deed, knowledge, and reason. We’re not to take personal responsibility to change a person’s heart. That’s the job for the Holy Spirit. Heart change is something that happens from within, and only God can move a person’s heart. But that movement often starts by engaging the mind. That’s our job.

Don’t be discouraged when conversations don’t go as planned. Each encounter is an opportunity for us to learn. Accept that we personally may not succeed in seeing a person’s perspective change immediately, instead remember that in love, and as an ambassador for Christ, the purpose of our conversation may simply have been to lay the groundwork for positive change in that person’s life for some time in the future.

Spiritual Identity Theft

Posted on by FullLifeWord

In our home we have a nice file cabinet where we file away our receipts from bills we pay each month. We retain this level of detail for a few years and then once a year we dispose of an entire year’s worth of old receipts. For security reasons we don’t just toss these documents in the trash, they’re shredded first. Shredding paper is not exactly a speedy task and I really don’t like to spend my day doing it. Fortunately my son loves to watch the paper get shredded and when he was old enough, he wanted to do the shredding for me. With that in mind I have learned to call upon him when its time to get rid of a bunch of old files.

This year as he was shredding some old records, we were talking about why we have to shred all these papers. Our conversation lead me to think about an incident that occurred a few years ago.

One day while driving to work, I took a few minutes to stop at a local service station near my home to buy some gas. After pulling up to the pump, I got out of my car, located my debit card, and inserted it into the card reader to start the purchase process. Instead of the normal prompts the reader came back and informed me that my card was declined.

“How could that be,” I thought to myself. “There’s plenty of money in the account, I wonder what’s going on?”

I ended up using my credit card to complete my purchase. After arriving at work, I took out my debit card and called the 800 number on the back to speak with my bank and find out what was going on with my debit card.

After several minutes of proving who I was, they informed me that the bank’s anti-fraud software had determined that my debit card had been compromised in the early morning hours.

My card had been used in another city at several locations where I had never visited before. I was told my card had actually been physically duplicated by a special counterfeit machine that can make cards from data that identity thieves are able obtain in any number of ways. In most cases these thieves never actually need to see your card to duplicate it and use it fraudulently, they only need the number that’s printed on the card. Typically they can obtain these numbers from anyone that handles cards and are willing to commit a crime to sell the numbers to identity thieves. (Today’s cards have embedded chips which greatly reduce the ability to duplicate credit or debit cards in this manner.)

In the end the bank issued me a new card and informed me that I would not be liable for the fraudulent charges that had been incurred.

As I learned more about identity theft and fraud, it turned out I was one of the lucky few. Many people have had it much worse, loosing a great deal financially.

In 2015 there were 13.1 million victims of identity fraud. Over the past six years fraudsters have reportedly stolen $112 billion, that’s about $35,600 per minute in fraudulent transactions. An absolutely staggering figure!

With the right personal information, fraudsters can wreak havoc on the lives of their victims. All of this has made detecting fraud a multi-billion dollar business unto itself.

Businesses and government agencies are constantly tasked with determining if the identity of the person in front of them is valid and trustworthy.

As believers we too have an important task in front of us. Protecting our own spiritual identity. Our spiritual identity is under constant attack by the one of the greatest fraudsters of all times: Satan himself.

Jesus described Satan as the “Father of all lies” and as one who’s native language is the lie. (John 8:44)

 It turns out that one of the greatest and most ingenious acts of deception ever foisted upon humanity is the belief that Satan does not exist.

A nationwide survey conducted by the Barna Group and published on April 13, 2009, revealed that 40% of individuals who profess to be Christians believe that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” (Barna Group, 4/13/09)

The fact that such a lie has managed permeate mainstream Christianity is a testament to its deceptive power.

What’s even more interesting is that the same study reported that about “half (47%) of the Christians who believed that Satan is merely a symbol of evil nevertheless agreed that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces such as demons.” (Barna Group)

These are disturbing statistics and they suggest that God’s people and the church body have failed to take steps to prepare themselves adequately against this most fundamental level of spiritual identity theft.

Max Anders, author of the “Holman New Testament Commentary,” shared that we as believers need to be able to recognize when deception is at play in our spiritual lives.

He suggested that in some ways we need to follow the model of the banking industry. Anders shared that banks often train employees to recognize a counterfeit bank note by having them only study real bank notes. They never study counterfeit currency. This approach trains their minds to easily spot the counterfeit when it shows up.

It follows then that believers need to study God’s word, and meditate on His word with such frequency that they will easily be able to identify and address erroneous statements, viewpoints, opinions, or worldviews.

Of course facts themselves are not enough to ensure adequate protection against spiritual identity theft. We must also be in a close relationship with Jesus. We worship a God that invests Himself personally in our lives. (John 3:16) Relationships take work to be successful. We need to have such a close relationship with God that we are able to quickly hear and know his voice when we hear it. Jesus said; “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

It’s important that we be able to hear and be able to discern God’s voice with confidence when He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, scriptures, prayer, fellow believers, and through life circumstances.

In the end our true spiritual identity is rooted in the fact that God created people to live in fellowship with Him.

The scriptures share that when God created humanity, he did so by creating us in His own image.(Gen 1:26) In this way we are inextricably linked to our creator.

Our challenge then is to not allow anyone to steal that which God desires for us. Protecting our spiritual identity is not without work and investment on our part. We need to become so familiar with scripture and God’s very character and nature, that we will immediately recognize when Satan is floating a fraudulent concept past us.

There are at least five things we can do to protect our spiritual identity:

1. Read the Bible daily: Pick a reading plan of some sort or use one of the many “read through the Bible in a year” resources that are available.

2. Study the Bible: It’s one thing to simply read the Bible, but another thing to study it. There are numerous resources available, many through local bible based churches. Dedicate a once a week deep dive study session for yourself.

3. Pray daily: Prayer is a time to connect with God in real time. A time to speak and to listen to God.

4. Connect with a church: Plug into a local church family where their foundation for faith is based upon the Bible.

5. Participate in Bible studies: Engage with a small group Bible study group or Sunday school group.

These are only a few ways in which you can deepen your relationship with Christ and your understanding of God’s word.

It is my prayer that at a minimum you would take the above ideas to heart, and overtime become mature enough to be able to discern for yourself those instances where ideas and proposals are in opposition to God’s very nature. And in so doing, protect your spiritual identity.

Of Streetlights And Clouds

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I found that as I moved towards adulthood that I started to trade my wonderment for God’s creation for the knowledge that I gained about the world God has created around us.

The sensation of this process was akin to coming to a specific knowledge of how a certain magic trick was performed. Suddenly the wonderment is gone. I feel like I need to work harder in life to retain my sense of wonderment, curiosity, and amazement of God’s creation around us. It speaks volumes of who He is.

Kids are the best at trying to explain God’s world around us. Often their innocent explanations are something that we as parents smile at in our hearts as we ponder their view of the world. My son shared with us when he was six years old that he had concluded that the evening fog that would move into our area each night, and then retreat in the morning, was generated nightly from the top of streetlight poles as everyone slept. Even as an adult he still doesn’t recall how he came to this insightful conclusion. But it was funny nonetheless.

At times I take great personal joy in viewing the world around me with such a simplistic perspective. The other night I stepped outside to an unusually clear night. I could see the stars scattered about, dotting the night sky; each pinpoint of light shining it’s way toward our humble planet. The scene reminded me of a passage from the Psalms:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”  (Psalm 19:1-4)

The perfect placement and precise operation of all the planetary bodies that taken together represent the creative genius of our Heavenly Father. Indeed I was humbled as I stood there and observed the night sky. It is the most beautiful masterpiece of creation and it shows up every night. I thought to myself how much more I need to stop at times and really pause to appreciate the amazing world that God has created for us.

I hope that after you read this that you might take a moment tonight, step outside and look up into the night sky and enjoy the greatest light show ever made. If you miss out tonight, I guarantee that there will be another show tomorrow.