In Times Of Uncertainty

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you weren’t sure what do, a situation where nothing made sense? Maybe you have been looking for a job and nothing seems to be opening up. Or possibly you’re at a time and place in your life where you are wondering, God what in the world are you doing up there or what in the world should I be doing down here? Maybe you’re in a relationship that’s having difficulties or are in a season of your life where nothing seems to make sense. We’ve all been in a situation that hasn’t made sense or maybe we just went through this type of situation, or will encounter one at some point. But the question that comes with these situations is what do I do when common sense ends? What do I do when nothing makes sense?

Have you ever been skydiving? While visiting a friend in Idaho I decided to take the thrill of jumping from a place. When arriving at the airport where we would be receiving our instruction from a staff of friendly people welcomed us. We started the morning by engaging in a class like session where we sat and listened to the sky diving instructor for directions on what we would be doing.  Following the instructional session everyone who was making the jump piled into the little Cessna, single prop plane and prepared for takeoff.

This last Sunday I spoke to our young adult’s group about the story of Mary and Joseph found in Matthew 1:18-25. This story not only highlights the birth of Jesus but tells an interesting story about two individuals who were in a situation where common sense ended and obedience began. They found themselves in a situation like ours where common sense ended and things didn’t make sense. Joseph who was probably between 18 and 20 years of age just found out that Mary (probably between 12 and 16 years old), whom he was betrothed to, is pregnant with a child by the Holy Spirit. If found in this situation, things probably wouldn’t make sense at all to me, yet Joseph chose to respond in a righteous and mature way.

Once our plane reached the proper altitude we opened the side door to prepare to jump. At that point common sense went out the window, along with my stomach. Because jumping out of the plane didn’t make any sense at that moment. But I knew that at this point it was safer for me to obey the instruction from the experts than to freak out. Joseph was also at a place in his life where nothing made sense but he chose to do what was right. In verses 20-21 an Angel of the Lord visits him to encourage his decisions and to confirm what Mary had told him. This was a huge help I’m sure to the confused Joseph.

In times of uncertainty, in order to be certain we must find that which is certain first. Meaning we must look to that which is constant, reliable, unfailing, a truth that has endured testing and time. The promise the Angel gave Joseph in his dream is a truth that has lasted the testing of time. God’s words are true and reliable. Of the over 300 prophesies about Jesus’ life from birth to death to resurrection, not one was left unfulfilled. The Word of God is true and lasting because God who inspired it is faithful, true, and everlasting. He is true to His word and will uphold every promise He gives.

So in order to be certain in times of uncertainty we can be certain when our certainty is founded on God’s promises. We can be certain when we stand on that which is true, reliable, infallible, and trusted.

When I jumped from the plane I was obedient to what I knew was for certain and that is what the instructors taught me. When Joseph heard the words of the Angel he did what he knew was right even if it didn’t all make sense. See, in our times of uncertainty, we must stand upon the promises of God. The Word is more than text, it’s power. The Word is power in our lives. If you are in uncertain times of your life I encourage you to get in the Word. Read it, memorize God’s promises, and spend time saturating your mind with it. The Word is what helps us endure through those uncertain times, knowing that God will be true and faithful to fulfill His promises.

As a final thought, think about the fruit of Mary and Joseph’s obedience to God’s promise. Even though things may not have made any sense at the time, God was orchestrating the greatest blessing of all, the birth of our Savior. See, we may not have any idea of what God is doing, things in our life may not make sense, but if you stand on God’s promises the result will be something far greater than we could have planned on our own. God might be orchestrating the greatest blessing of all during this season of your life.

So I encourage you, spend time in the Word, spend time with God, and stand on His promises during these times of uncertainty. Because you can be certain of one thing, and it’s that God is faithful and true to fulfilling all His promises.

Leadership Challenge of the week: Pray for someone you lead or know and ask God to give you a promise from scripture, a verse that will be encouragement to that person. Write that verse/promise down and give it to that individual.

That Very Hour

Have you ever opened your Bible, began reading and when you finish, you think to yourself, “What in the world did that mean?” The Bible is full of wisdom and insight but sometimes we have to dig a little deeper into the cultural and historical background of a story to really grasp the full meaning of what was written.

Most recently I read Matthew 15:21-28, the story of the gentile who shows her faith. In this story a mother approaches Jesus because her daughter is severely demon possessed because she believes that Jesus is the only way her daughter will receive healing and deliverance. The preceding interaction that takes place between her and Jesus can seem very confusing if taken at face value. You will read that at first Jesus ignores the woman and then goes on to refer to her as a dog which seems very unloving and unlike Jesus to do.

As we dive deeper into this story, we realize that Jesus is using the metaphor of a cute little household doggy and a child to illustrate a very important point. Through this illustration, Jesus is teaching His disciples and readers a life changing point. Additionally, He is leading the woman to step out in boldness and faith, a faith that Jesus later says leads Him to heal her daughter.

The comments and remarks exchanged between Jesus and the lady are actually drawing up some interesting information. We learn from their conversation that although many believed Jesus was sent to be the savior only to the Jews, He has actually come to be savior to all. See, this woman understood what everyone else missed. She knew that it’s not up to everyone else to determine who gets saved and who doesn’t or who is qualified or able to receive and experience God’s grace and who isn’t. She knew that she was a sinner and was outside of God’s chosen people, His covenant people. But she also knew that if she could just experience an ounce of His grace, everything would be okay for her daughter.

We are all unworthy and undeserving of God’s grace, but the great thing is that He has chosen to freely give it to all who choose to accept it. The point of the message is this: That the smallest amount of God’s grace is enough for the most undeserving. Even those of us who are furthest from God, those who think of themselves as the worst people, or who have run so far from God it seems there is no way He could love us. His grace is for everyone, and even the smallest amount of God’s grace is enough for the most undeserving.

This woman understood this. She knew if she could just have an ounce it would be more than enough for all she needed. Verse 28 goes on to say that in that very hour her daughter was healed because of her faith. Now real quick, an example I used in last week’s sermon was this: Comfort zones are like cooking a live frog. If you put the frog in a pot of hot water it will jump right out. But if you put the frog in a pot of cold water and slowly heat the pot, he’ll be too comfortable to realize he’s dieing. Now don’t go trying this at home, I’d rather you just get the point of the story which is this; being uncomfortable is what saves us. Being uncomfortable is what saved this woman’s daughter. Because she was willing to be uncomfortable while approaching Jesus in a place she wasn’t wanted and looked down upon her daughter was saved. It’s when we become comfortable that often we begin to slowly die inside. It’s uncomfortable to wake up early and spend time with God. But without it we slowly die inside.

It was because of this woman’s boldness she stepped out in faith to boldly approach Jesus with her need. She knew she was undeserving, a sinner, and outside of God’s chosen people. But she knew something many of us need to know and even respond to. That God’s grace is for everyone and the smallest amount of God’s grace is enough for the most undeserving.

Maybe right now, in this very hour, you need to boldly approach Jesus with your struggles and difficulties, your deepest needs, and in this very hour God wants to do something mighty in your life. Remember, the smallest amount of God’s grace is enough for the most undeserving. It’s enough for whatever you are going through. If God is placing something in your life on your heart right now, I encourage you, boldly approach Jesus and ask Him for His grace and He will freely give it.

Leadership Challenge of the week: Find someone in your workplace, school, home, or community who you know needs God’s grace and pray this week for them. Maybe someone needs grace from you. How can you be an example of Christ and share God’s grace with them?

Who's On Your List?

Living out in the Antelope Valley is an experience like no other. Having grown up in the Northwest with luscious green trees and clear flowing streams has made this transition a bit of a shock in getting used to my new scenery. My typical drive to work consists of passing numerous Joshua trees which are basically glorified cactuses and desert flats spanning for miles. Another part of the experience for anyone who moves to a new location is getting to know the people in the local community and falling in love with their culture and heritage.

           

            Most recently in my time with the Lord, I’ve been challenged in a new way. I’ve really been pushed by God to look at how I view myself and others. To be a little more specific, how I view my relationship with the Father and how I view others in relationship to Him. Before you click away because of that confusing comment, allow me to briefly explain myself as I believe you will find a real connection to what I’m about to say.

            I was reading Luke 14:15-24, the parable of the great supper, and in this parable we learn how the host Jesus, instructs His servants to go out to those who are maimed, lame, and blind. Now although we have a lot of people in our communities who have these challenges, I believe that Jesus is talking more specifically about the spiritually maimed, lame, and blind, those who are far away from Him. Maybe it’s those who don’t go to church, those who at our work use profanity or make rude comments. Jesus instructs his servant to go out to those who are far away and invite them to the feast.

            Now as I read this, I felt a conviction inside myself. Think about it, Jesus is willing to love those who most of us don’t feel like loving. He is willing to reach out to those who are furthest from God. I began thinking about all the people in my community who don’t know the Lord and all those who if they were just invited to the banquet would love to come! I also began thinking about the religious leaders who gave the excuses and I wondered am I one of them? Do I think that I will be sitting at the great banquet and all the people that bother me and the ones I don’t love will not? Do I neglect to invite and share God’s love with those who are far from God?

            If we are children of God we should love those who don’t know God and those who are far from Him. If not, then I’d have to ask, are you a child of God? The children of God have a passion after His own heart. So why don’t we have heart for the lost? God’s greatest passion is to find the lost sheep, the lost coin, the prodigal son, those who are furthest from Him; those are who He has the greatest compassion for!

            So as I read this parable I asked myself, Sean, do you believe there are people here in the Antelope Valley who I should be sharing God’s love and grace with but instead I turn them away because I think they are not worthy? Wow, this hurt. I really had to stop and examine my heart. I think there are times when I am no better than those religious leaders. But as a son and child of God, my heart must be after His heart, after the same things He is passionate about.

            This past Sunday I challenged our young adults group with the question, who’s on your list? Who’s the one person that the Holy Spirit might put on your heart to go out and share His grace and compassion with? Who’s the one person that might simply need to be invited to the feast? Maybe it’ll take some convincing, but once they come and experience the Father’s love; their lives will be forever transformed.

            So I pose the question to my readers. Who’s on your list? Who is the person that God might be putting on your heart, the one that might be considered so far from God, the one who doesn’t deserve to be at the banquet, who’s that one that you are willing to reach out and love? Who’s on your list?

Leadership Lesson of the week: As leaders we are to disciple and empower others to be more fully who God has created them to be. Take time this week to pour into one other person and encourage them to reach out to another as well.

A Simple Remedy To Life's Curveballs

Our lives are filled each day with new challenges, defining moments, and memorable experiences, some more positive than others, but all very real. In the last year my wife and I have worked through many transitions, one of which being the relocation of our lives and careers. During our time of seeking where we would move our life to, we met with several people we considered to be mentors or large influencers in our lives. One in particular, Dr. Jared Roth, gave us a bit of advice that stood in my mind as a defining moment in how we processed our decisions. He told us that at my current age of twenty-five, much of what I learn over the next five to ten years will greatly influence both my leadership style and personal character. Most of these attributes will be learned from the people closest to me including my boss or supervisor, spouse, peers, mentors and coaches in my life. With this in mind I consider it very important to position myself in relationships with key individuals who I want to shape my leadership and character after.

Now as many of us know, this is not always easy. Often we work at organizations with leaders we don’t necessarily look up to, and some of our preferred means of influence are held at a distance whether by physical location, busyness of life, or inaccessibility. So how do we prepare and position ourselves best for these defining moments in our lives, the times when big decisions must be made?

This last Sunday my college friend T.D. Davis (short for Touch Down Davis or Total Domination) guest spoke at our young adults groups here at the Highlands Church in Palmdale. While touching down on some words that are often thrown around loosely, he brought new perspective by redefining them. One word he took the time to redefine was mentor. He brought to light not only the unrealistic expectations and standards many of us have of mentors but he also shed new light on them through the use of Biblical references. There is one thing in particular about what he said that hung on to me, something I just couldn’t shake.

While talking about mentors, T.D. explained how on baseball teams they have what is called the bullpen. Many of us know already what a bullpen is, but as a quick recap it is the area for players that are located just outside of the main playing field. Not to be confused with the dugout where the rest of the team is, the bullpen is and area were the relief pitchers are located. Often they are warming up for the game, just waiting to be called in as reserves. They are the ones that give relief to the main players, primarily the pitcher, and help out when things get hard.

While expanding upon this analogy, T.D. challenged me and the church with the question, “Who’s in your bullpen?” Who do we have in our lives as mentors and coaches, the relief players to help us when things get difficult or when we need advice? Who do we turn to for advice, who do we seek counsel from during our life defining moments? He urged us to begin to think about who we can consider asking to be a part of our bullpen and who we can ask to be available to meet with occasionally for advice. We need to set ourselves up with a strong bullpen now so that when difficult times come we will be ready to turn to them for relief and help. When life throws you a curve ball, a simple remedy for help is to turn to your bullpen for advice.

Leadership Challenge for the week: Formulate a list of key individuals you can ask to be a part of your ‘bullpen’ and begin to build on those relationships.

           

A Faithful God

This season of transitioning into ministry here at the Highlands has been an exciting and adventurous time. God has begun a great work that is going to continue to ignite and spread like a wild fire! Lives are being changed, prayers are being answered, and miracles are happening. It's funny though, because there are still times where I find myself trying to do things on my own. Even though God is all around and doing mighty works and bringing together things I could never have done, I still find myself attempting tasks on my own. Does this ever happen to you? I would think I would have learned better than this by now right!?

Well recently, on two separate occasions, there have been tasks that I could use some help on. I was short on man power. I took just a minute during the normal tasks I have each day to pause and ask God for reinforcements, for help to finish the tasks before me. Not but one week went by before I had 3 people willing and available to help further the work God set before me. It might not sound like a huge deal, but it's little moments like these, in the small parts of each of our days, that if we take the time to pause and simply ask God for help, he will provide us the necessary means to accomplish His work.

I encourage you today, take a moment and just ask God to help you with whatever troubles you have today. Watch and see what He will do!

URGENT: Free Stuff

So often when talking about tithing, offering, or giving money to the Lord and the first thing we usually think about is giving 10% to the church. Although in the back of our minds we hope God will return to us ten fold. Right!? I mean, it pops in my head quite frequently, especially come Sunday after payday. But, as I’m sure you can already guess from my sarcasm, this isn’t where I’m taking this entry. Instead, what I want to do is consider Matthew 25:14-30 and the parable of the talents and how Jesus challenges us in a way we might not normally consider.

Now right away in this parable Jesus says in verse 14, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” (NKJV). So what are we talking about here: The kingdom of God. Who is the master: God. Who are the servants: You and me. To whom does all the wealth belong: God. So right away Jesus is saying that God is giving us His stuff. James 1:17 is consistent with this as well as Psalm 24:1 and John 3:27. So the logical assumption that Jesus makes about our stuff is that He created it, He made it, and that He made and created us.

So we need to be aware. Aware of how we approach our stuff, our goods, everything we own, we must approach it with awareness of whose it is and who gave it to us. Now, lets pause here for a moment and look at a catalytic scripture in Matthew 22:15. Here the religious leaders come to Jesus and try to trap Him. They ask if they should pay taxes to Caesar. Now they’ve got Him! Right!? If He says yes, then people will feel betrayed because they hated paying taxes, but if He says no, then they would turn Him into the Roman authorities for tax evasion. So Jesus takes the coin, asks who’s face is on it and when they say Caesar’s, He tells them give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.  But that’s it. They just walk away saying, wow, this Man is good, and He’s sharp! But what I think Jesus wanted them to do was ask another question. This would have been the question: What belongs to God? And Jesus would have said, whose imprint is on you? God’s! Therefore, everything you have belongs to God.

Every ability, every talent, gift, we have comes from God. We can hone in on our gifts, but we can’t create them. They originate from God, through Him and then to us. That’s what God wants you to know. So Jesus is saying to us, what are we doing with our talents and abilities?

To help answer this question, the national average shows that the average family household income is $50,000 a year. To put that into perspective, if you make $34,000 or more per year, you are wealthier than 96% of the rest of the world. If you make $45,000 or more a year, you are in the top 1% of wage earners! So we are the rich and wealthy ones the Bible is talking about. Yet, the average American only gives 1.5% away on average. If you’re a Christian, then it goes to 2.5%! So God makes a whopping 1% difference in our lives! (Sarcasm) Another crazy fact is that although only 8% of Christians tithed last year, 44% claim they tithe. So as a whole, Christians in America are missing the point somewhere along the way.

I’ve heard that some don’t tithe because they heard that God loves a cheerful giver and when they give they are not cheerful, therefore they don’t give. Well good for them, they are upholding one passage of scripture to violate another.  It’s apparent from this parable that it’s about awareness of whose money, talents, gifts, abilities, everything we have, it is in the first place. Matthew 25:15 says, “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.” The word talent here has a dual meaning. First it can mean money, gold, or economic insinuation. It can also mean talent, gift, skill, or ability. Both are included. So we can’t just say we gave our talents and abilities to the service of God and not our money. We need to be aware of this. Everything belongs to God and it is all a gift to us. 

I used to pray that God would provide. That He would provide for my family, my church and the people who come to learn about God. Then it dawned on me. He does provide. Last year alone, our church gave away about $300,000 to missions, outreaches, grace resources, families that couldn’t pay their bills and many other ministry opportunities. As a pastor, I talk with many people who have great ideas and passions for ministry and outreaches to reach the lost. Of course, many of them require some amount of money. I would like to list all the outreach ideas our church members have, but that’s not the point of this message or parable. Jesus is saying, what are we doing with what He has given us? Are we honoring Him with it? Are we doing our best to use our gifts, talents and finances to honor God?

I could say you should tithe 10% with the hopes of receiving 10 fold back. If that were the case and the sole purpose for giving, as a church we wouldn’t even take tithe. We would just give out 100 dollar bills to each person after service with the hope of receiving 10 fold back. It’s not about that. God already tells us He will provide for all we need. But if we truly honored God and learned from this parable, we would recognize that all we have is His to begin with. When we understand this we wont have such a hard time giving it back and honoring Him in all areas of our lives. Just think, in my church alone, if everyone tithed or gave at least 10% we would receive 70% more money than we do now. Monies that could go to reaching the lost, serve others, and bring glory to God. We are not given these riches to become rich, but to give to others and glorify God.

So I encourage you, if you aren’t giving to God now, begin. If you are giving a little but don’t know how to give more because the economy is tight. Listen, I love you, God loves you, but you must understand there comes a point when we have to step out in faith and trust Him with all we have. Honor God with all your gifts, talents, monies, and abilities, everything you have! There is nothing more fun than seeing the gifts God has given you being used to bring Glory to His name and lead others to Christ.

Leadership Challenge for the week: How can you help at least one person in discovering or putting their gifts, talents, or abilities to work?

The Result Of Loving God

"The more you learn to love God, the more you learn to know and to cherish yourself. Self-knowledge and self-love are the fruit of knowing and loving God. You can see better now what is intended by the great commandment to 'love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself.' Laying our hearts totally open to God leads to a love of ourselves that enables us to give whole-hearted love to our fellow human beings. In the seclusion of our hearts we learn to know the hidden presence of God; and with that spiritual knowledge we can lead a loving life." -Letters to Marc about Jesus from Henri Nouwen's The Only Necessary Thing.

Certainty In Times Of Uncertainty

During the difficult times in my life I find I am on my knees before God crying out to Him more than ever. It’s during those times that I often call out on the various names of God to help remind me while praying that He is our provider, comforter, strength, etc. But there is one name for God that we can’t find anywhere in the Old Testament. One name for God that if we understand it and how it applies to us, it will change the way we look at our life and even the current situation you might be struggling through.

Throughout the Old Testament, 4 major characteristics of God emerge. First, He is Sovereign. God is above and over all things. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.” God is not limited by anything and has absolute rule and authority over all. Second, He is holy. This means that God does what is right every time and does it with the right intention. Psalm 24:3 says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?” He is a holy God who never slips up and always does what is right. Hard to fathom isn’t it? It’s like trying to fathom the fact that God has no beginning! Additionally, He is omniscient, meaning He knows everything; He has perfect and complete knowledge of anything that has or will ever happen. Isaiah 40:13 says, “Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him?” God knows all about all and is not limited by anything. He knows every sickness we will ever have, who your future spouse will be, even the names of your kids before you ever hope to have them. Finally, God is immutable, meaning He is never going to change, He is always the same.

Doesn’t this bother some of you though? Isn’t it frustrating that God knows everything you do? If God knows all and has the power to create all, then I can only be lead to believe that God, if He wanted, could rescue us out of all the difficult things we are going through. He could heal us from any disease, restore any marriage or relationship, provide food for the hungry, and even stop the natural disasters from killing so many people. So why doesn’t He? Why are we in some of the extremely difficult situations that we are?

Well Jesus, during the most difficult and trying time of His life cries out to God, His Father, as we can observe from Mark 14:32-36. He is about to be crucified, and while in the garden of Gethsemane He prays and becomes deeply troubled and distressed. This was the hardest part of His life, His sorrow became so great that He fell to the ground. When Jesus called out to God, He called Him, “Abba Father.” This name, Abba Father, is a name that we all have to know, it’s so important in knowing who God is. It’s a name that no other faith system in the world includes and a name that would have been highly offensive to the Old Testament Hebrew. The name Abba Father is only used three times throughout the entire New Testament and all three times it was used by Jesus.

The name ‘Abba Father’ literally means daddy. We can call upon God by every other name known throughout the Old Testament, but Jesus sheds light in Mark 14 about a way we are to view God, that until we see Him in this way, we will never know fully who He is. I know that for some of my readers, the analogy/metaphor of a daddy isn’t great, as some of you have had absent or difficult times with your father. But with the ideal, the perfect model of a father, we can understand God and how He deals with the situations we are in. After Jesus calls God daddy, He says in verse 36, “...all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will” (Mk.14:36). Jesus is basically saying, I know you got me daddy, I know you’re there, but would you take this from me? But if not, I’ll submit. Now the Father had a compelling reason for not taking away the cross- salvation. Jesus had to go through the cross to get to us so that we can now receive everlasting life. Any other way would have not been possible.

This leads me to believe that it is possible for you to be in the most difficult time of your life and for you to be directly in the center of the will of God. If you notice what happens next though, Luke 22 shows us that angels came and strengthened Him. So we can learn that whatever God calls us to endure, He assumes the responsibility to give us the strength to endure it. We may never know the reason why we go through some of the things we do, I can’t tell you why certain things happen either. Just because we can’t see a reason doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. Based on what we know about God, the things we are certain about, we can trust Him in uncertain times, because He is your daddy. He’s got you.

Leadership Lesson Of The Week: "Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion." -Brennen Manning, Ruthless Trust

Rock-Bottom Lows, Mountain-Top Highs

In Life, I find that there are times when it seems everything is going wonderfully, times when it seems as if God might just be looking down and be calling you His favorite. It’s those times when life seems great and everything happens to be going your way. I like to call these times in our lives the “Mountain-top highs.” Then there are those times when the complete opposite happens. Times when nothing goes your way, challenges arise, your faith in God diminishes, and it might even seem that the whole world is against you. These are the infamous “Rock-bottom lows” of our lives.

A lot has happened in my life over the last year and a half. To name a few things; I married my beautiful wife Katie, moved from one job to another, moved to a completely new city, and have finished my Master’s Degree. It has been an amazing season, one where I definitely had many mountain-top highs in my relationship with the Lord and looking back it’s easy to count blessing after blessing of God’s faithfulness in my life. But the simple fact that there has been so much change in my life makes it easy to understand that I’ve also had my fair share of rock-bottom lows.

We can observe from Elijah’s life in 1 Kings 18-19 that he also had his mountain-top high’s and rock-bottom lows. In 1 Kings 18 Elijah was on his mountain-top high while defeating the 450 false prophets of Baal. He had so much faith in God that when he called on the Lord, the Lord reigned down fire from heaven that consumed the wooden altar and led to his victory over the false prophets. Now just one chapter later, in chapter 19, we see Elijah running scared after a threat against his life is put out. We might wonder, how is it that this man of faith, just moments later, doesn’t have the faith to trust God to protect him? Why doesn’t he stand strong and trust in the Lord? Well I love what James 5:17 says. It reads, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.” (James 5:17). He wasn’t superhuman, he was just like us! And how are we? Well I know how I am, and there are times where right after God shows His faithfulness I begin doubting and not trusting that He’s going to come through again when the next challenge comes my way.

Now, the way God responds to Elijah during 1 Kings 19 teaches us 3 things about God that we all need to know during our rock-bottom lows, three things that will give us the confidence and power to make it through even our lowest of lows.  The first thing we learn about God occurs when Elijah is sleeping under the broom tree. During this time an angel of the Lord says in verse 7 of chapter 19, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” We can learn here that God acknowledges us in the fact that often times the journey, the rock-bottom lows we are in is too great for us to endure on our own. After the angel says this to Elijah, the angel feeds him and gives him drink on two different occasions. From this food and drink Elijah has enough strength to continue running for 40 days all the way to Mount Horeb, also called Mount Sinai. We can learn here that the Lord will strengthen us during our rock-bottom lows. Philippians 4:13 echoes this, and not only will He strengthen us, but he will give us more than we need as He did with Elijah.

The second thing we can learn about God is from verses 15-18 of chapter 19. At this point, God has begun a conversation with Elijah, and in response to Elijah’s distress, God gives him 3 new tasks to complete; anoint Hazael as king over Syria, anoint Jehu king over Israel, and anoint Elisha as prophet in his place. This shows us that God has a plan. God is working all things for His good and He knows even the long-term plans for our lives. Sometimes, in our times of despair, we lose perspective to see the bigger picture and forget that God is ultimately in control. God reminds Elijah here that He has a plan, just as He has a plan for all of our lives. And sometimes, during these low points, we just need but a glimpse of it, just a few small tasks to keep our attention off our distractions and focused on God. So remember, God has a plan for your life.

The third thing we can learn about God comes also from His response to Elijah in verse 18. God says, “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”  (v.18). Elijah basically told God that He was the only person left who still loved God. The Lord responded by basically saying, well Elijah, you exaggerated a bit, because there are still 7000 others who worship me. Often during our lows, it seems like there’s no possible way things are going to improve or work out for the better. What we have to remember, just as God reminded Elijah, is that God is resourceful. He has all resources available at His fingertips, and when things don’t seem possible in the natural, we must remember that they are possible in the supernatural, through God.

The last thing I want to mention is something I noticed in verse 8 and the first part of verse 9. It says, “So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave…” Elijah knew that in his rock-bottom low, he needed to find that place where he could just get away, a place that if he made it there he knew he could meet with God and things would be okay. For Elijah, it was Mount Horeb, the same place God met with Moses and the children of Israel. For me, during my depressing times, I know if I can just go on a walk and talk with the Lord, things will be okay. Or if I can just spend that time doing my devotions each morning in my living room, I will meet with God. So I pose 2 questions to my readers; first, when tough situations come, do you run to God or do you run to other false idols? Second, where is that place for you? Where is that place you go to meet with God during tough situations?

As followers of Christ, we must learn to rely on Christ to lead us. Elijah was close to God, He pursued God, He spent time with God, and unless we are doing the same we won’t be able to make it through these lows, these tough times. We can choose to do it on our own, but from my own life, I gave up on doing that a long time ago. I was tired of using all my own strength, of getting depressed, feeling hopeless, not knowing how things would work out. When I began running to God instead of running to my own securities and relying on my own answers, I was able to walk in confidence, walk with purpose and know that my God is there to help.

So my question now to you is, where do you run? Is it to God?

Leadership Lesson of the week: As leaders it is easy to feel that we are alone on the journey and that everything hinges on our decisions. We must remember that God is in control, He has a plan, He has all the resources necessary, and He will give you the strength to continue.

Becoming A Great Leader

There’s usually not much time for me to watch much T.V. during the week, so my primary way of catching up on the news is by logging onto Yahoo and reading the news updates. If you’re at all like me, you’ll scroll through to the updates that are most appealing and spend time reading up on what’s new, often losing track of time. But it doesn’t seem like many weeks go by before I come across another article about a leader who has failed, usually in a moral or ethical way. Their stardom mixed with the notoriety brings them a lot of scrutiny from others and more importantly shows us just how hard it is to be a leader.

Whether it was the lessons from your parent(s) or a public figure in your life, we have all been influenced by others to some degree, some greater than others. It doesn’t matter if you live or work in a secular or non-secular environment, there is leaders, people with the ability to have an influence on others’ lives.

As Christians, followers of Jesus, we have all been called to bring positive influence to others around us and in the world, and through this influence we are to lead others to a life and faith in Jesus. So, plainly stated then, leadership translates into influencing others. We are to be an influence for Jesus and the kingdom.

What ends up becoming difficult and a challenge for most of us then is mimicking the actions of Jesus in our pursuit to be “like” Him. We’ve all seen those wristbands with “WWJD” on them, standing for What Would Jesus Do. They are a good reminder to live as Christ would and to be a positive influence to others. The problem with the concept of simply mimicking what we think Jesus would do is that we often miss the deeper side to Jesus out of which His behaviors flow. If we mimic only behaviors then we will never get it right because we will do what we think Jesus would do and possibly mix it with our own rationalizations based off our desired outcome of the situation. Thus, running the risk of not doing what Jesus would do at all.

What we have to understand is that our actions flow out of our identity. If we strive to mimic actions, we will always end up failing. That is why Paul writes in Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” By transforming and renewing our mind we change our nature. So what we need is not improvement of our behavior or to imitate actions, but replacement of our nature and a transformed mind. Out of this we will form our identity in Christ and from our identity our actions will flow. As we put on the mind of Christ as Paul states in Colossians 3:10, and as we allow His will to be ours, then our Christ-like actions will come naturally.

Kevin Mannoia, author of Integrity Factor, was one the professors of my Masters program in Leadership at APU. While expanding on this topic, he used the analogy of an iceberg to demonstrate this point. When looking at the surface of an iceberg, you only see one-tenth of the entire mound of ice. Nine-tenths of the iceberg is under water. But it is the top portion that takes on the storms and extreme challenges of weather. Similar to our life, the top portion of the iceberg is what people see of us; our actions, performance, etc. The bottom portion of the iceberg is what keeps the top portion grounded during storms and allows the top to stay sturdy. In our life, the bottom of the iceberg is our identity. It is out of our identity in Christ that our actions flow. It is out of our identity that we are able to perform under pressure, overcome the storms in our lives, and lead others without failing. It is when we forget about our core, our identity, and begin basing success and leadership off the sole actions and performance of ourselves that we begin to lose our foundation. When the iceberg gets too top heavy it’s bound to crash, crumble or fall apart. The buoyancy level and the core beneath have to be strong enough to support the top during the storms. This is why many leaders end up failing because they base their success primarily off their actions and performance (the top of the iceberg) and neglect the wellspring of life (the bottom of the iceberg) from which their actions flow.

So we have to tend to our core, tend to our relationship with Jesus from which our identity is built and made solid. Instead of strictly looking at the outward performance, actions, and characteristics of leaders in your life and trying to mimic them, strive to seek God and work on your foundation. Spend time in the word and in prayer, and allow God to take you through the crucibles of life, those shaping moments. Out of this strong core, your actions and behaviors will be built, and being Christ-like to others will come naturally.

Discovering your vocation

Many of us ask the infamous questions, "what's next, what's my purpose, what is God calling me to do?" We all search to answer that life-long question especially as we walk through life's major transitions. There's something inside us that longs for inner satisfaction, mission, and a purpose larger than ourselves. In our attempts to answer the question, we often throw around words such as; job, work, career, occupation, profession, calling, and vocation. But in which one do we find God's purpose for our lives?

As a united body of believers and peers on this journey of becoming more like Christ, we had this great teaching and discussion during our most recent young adults service here at the Highlands. Some things we know through scripture are that God works things for His good as seen in 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.” We also know that if we pursue righteousness in our lives and seek God He will direct our steps. Psalm 37:23 echos this by saying, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” So how then do we find His will, His purposes for our lives? Well we know we can trust the Lord to direct our steps as we seek Him. Proverbs 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him"…In how many of your ways? Some, a few, a couple… ALL. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him! In all that you do acknowledge Him.…”And He shall" He might? He will think about it? He WILL, He SHALL…"Direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from Evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.” We are to seek the Lord, to trust Him with everything, and believe He has the best intentions in mind. We can trust Him with our lives because He has good plans for us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." This is assuring! This is good news as we release our will and lives to Him! But what is vocation? What is my purpose?

Well vocation is the unique calling that is upon the life of each person. It is the reason you are who you are and why you do what you do. It is lived out within, through, and beyond our regular responsibilities. Vocation, if aligned correctly in our lives, can be applied to your family, work, ministry and all other areas of your life. It is what gives our lives purpose, satisfaction, contribution, and meaning. A place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep needs. It is what you are made to do, what you are made to accomplish.

Jesus for example, says in John 18:37, "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth." This was His vocation, His ultimate purpose. By His ability to understand His vocation, His purpose, no matter what happened He was able to be fulfilled and satisfied because He was doing what He knew He was created to do. Even in our lives, when we are walking in our vocation and calling, things can still become difficult. But if we know our purpose, our calling, then we can always walk with purpose knowing we are doing and being exactly who God created us to be.

We can now be released from finding our identity in our careers. We can be released from the stress of worrying about what's next. If God directs our path, then our responsibility is to seek God, go deeper in our relationship with Him, seek to know Him more than ever! This takes the pressure of the question, "what's next" because it's not for us to figure out.

So I invite you to seek God, search for His voice, His will, and calling upon your life. Examine your inner passions, gifts-both spiritual and natural, find out what you enjoy doing most, and through prayer, journaling and time with the Lord, ask Him to reveal to you His purpose, His vocation for your life. 

The power of one

As I have been reading and studying John 4 and the woman at the well I am overly amazed with the power of one person, Jesus. In this story He took the time to be obedient to the Lord, go to Samaria during His journey to Galilee, and talk with one woman who in turn had an influence on many others. This woman was a reject in the society, a bit promiscuous and a flirt. But Jesus, through His words with her, forgave her, restored her relationship with the Lord and empowered her to go out and lead others to Christ. This taught me several very valuable things that I could apply directly to my life.
First, if we saturate our lives with the word of God, and invest in our relationship with Him, we become familiar with the Lord's voice, and when He speaks to us or leads us to others we will be ready and in tune with His leading.
Second, just as He did with this Samaritan woman, He has empowered us and sent us all out with a testimony to share with others. You don't have to be a Bible scholar, only a sinner who has had an encounter with the living God! Being that we are all sinners, we all have the opportunity to experience God's love, forgiveness and acceptance, and as we walk in His love and experience Him more, our hearts are changed, and out of a changed heart we are empowered, compelled and motivated then to go and share this love with others.
Finally, the third thing we can learn from this story is the power of one. The power of one person to take the time and talk with one person who is rejected from society, maybe someone who's a little socially awkward or time consuming, maybe someone who's of a different religion or background even. But by the the time invested by one, Jesus, this one lady's life was forever transformed. Then this one woman, now empowered with a testimony went out and led several men right away to Christ through her testimony.
So my challenge to you then is this. Who is your one? Who is your one person that each day you might pass by, but deep in your heart you know they need Jesus. Who is the one person maybe God is placing on your heart to take the time and share His love with. Who is your one. As Mother Teresa said, "It's a large ocean, but with your help, it's an ocean with one less drop." So who's your one?

Sean

Familiarity

On my drive in to work today I thought about the fact that it is my second day of work at my new job and all the emotions that come with it. I though about the fact that I try as quickly as possible to make friends, get familiar with policy and proceedure... basically learn the ropes of the new job. There's some sense of familiarity brought from the support of my previous training and experiences and the awesome fact that my wife also works for the same church as I. But then I began to think about my relationship with the Lord. I wondered if I treat God the same way I treat a job. Do I work my best to get familiar with Him, make a routine, and then sort of auto-pilot the rest of the way? It's important to have structure in our lives, but we must not let structure turn our relationship with God into a casual routine where we seem to put ourselves on auto-pilot. My prayer for today is that my relationship with God will always remain curious, that it will continue to remain somewhat unfamiliar as I learn about a limitless God. As I grow and mature in my walk with Christ, I pray for an exciting and continual learning relationship with not only my boss, but my Father.