Knowing God’s Will

I think we all want to know YOUR will for our lives. We want to know the is a reason we are here. We want to know what YOU want us to do. I know I do. I love to plan. I want to know what I will be doing today, tomorrow, next week, and five years from now. Oh God, just tell me what to do. Then this morning I was reading Paul’s prayer for those who follow YOU in Colossians 1, I am struck by how he defines knowing YOUR will. First, he prays that we may be filled with the knowledge of YOUR will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (v. 9). That sounds good to me. I would like to know what YOUR will is for my life; what job do YOU have for me, where do YOU want me to go, what do YOU want me to say, etc… Basically, I only want spiritual wisdom and understanding to know stuff.

But that is not what Paul is talking about. He prays we would be filled with the knowledge of YOUR will so that we may walk in a manner worthy of YOU, fully pleasing YOU (10a). Then he goes on to describe how we can do this; by bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of YOU (10b). So knowing YOUR will for my life is not about knowing where I will be in five or ten years but knowing how to live each moment to please YOU. Not needing to hear YOUR voice tell me to reach out to a hurting person but simply bearing fruit in every good work that comes along. Not racking up points and trying to make YOU bless me but increasing each moment in my knowledge of YOU. It is so interesting that to know YOUR will is not about stuff but is about knowing YOU better.

Lord, let me know YOU today. Help me focus on YOU. Loving YOU, serving YOU, being YOUR hands. Don’t let me be caught up in religious thinking but in relational thinking. Let me remained focused on YOU rather than YOUR will, YOUR face and not YOUR hand, YOUR presence and not YOUR presents.

Too Weak For What?

As I read about YOU in the Garden of Gethsemane, I am struck by YOUR instructions to the Peter, James, and John. YOU told them to watch and pray that they wouldn’t fall into temptation. First YOU asked them to pray with YOU but then YOU told them to pray for themselves. YOU wanted company during YOUR time of struggle but even more YOU wanted them to be strengthened in their spirit so that they would have strength for the trial they were about to go through with YOU. In the midst of YOUR suffering, YOU wanted them to be strengthened.

In Mark 14:31, Peter said, “Even if I have to die with YOU, I will never deny YOU.” And the others agreed with them. That is what YOU meant when YOU said their spirits were willing. Their spirits were ready to die with YOU but their flesh was too weak to live for YOU. How different it would have been if they had prayed…

The interesting thing is that YOU didn’t want them to die with YOU. What YOU really wanted was to make sure they did not quit and give up completely. YOU told Peter he would deny YOU. YOU weren’t telling him to pray he wouldn’t do that. YOU were telling him to pray so that the failures of his flesh would not cause him to quit following YOU.

Satan does not just want to hurt Peter and YOU by making him fail. The enemy’s goal is to encourage Peter to go from failure to self-condemnation and guilt. He wants Peter to feel so bad about his weak flesh that he will avoid YOU. Then, if he avoids YOU long enough, he will wither up spiritually and YOUR life energy will dry up in him and he will quit following YOU.

That is the ultimate goal of the enemy in my life. He wants to see me fail; which will lead to feeling guilty and ashamed; which will lead to avoiding spending time with YOU; which will cause me to lose my joy, strength, and energy for life; which will make me quit following YOU. He does not just take joy out of hurting me, he wants me to give up. Lord, help me recognize and stop this cycle in my life.

Today, YOU are not so much concerned that I might fail to live up to my big promises to bravely follow YOU. You are more concerned that when I fail to live up to those words, I do not become so discouraged that I quit accepting YOUR grace. Help me remember that YOU have already dealt with my failures and the weakness of my flesh. YOU understand my weakness better than I do. Help me to not condemn myself and feel so guilty that I quit trying. Don’t let me be so ashamed that I avoid YOU. When I fail, remind me of how that is the time to run to YOU, accept YOUR grace and forgiveness, and let YOU restore my joy and strength!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Phillipians 3:8-11)

In this passage, Paul keeps intensifying his refusal to live in the past. Three times he says he counts everything in his past as loss. He culminates with saying, “I count it all as rubbish that I may know Christ….” Lots of people advise us to let go of the past and focus on the future. Paul is saying let go of the past and focus on YOU. The danger is not that my past will make me proud or depressed but that it will keep me from completely knowing YOU. The passion of this passage is not to escape the past but to push through the past and pursue YOU without the baggage. There are three types of baggage that can keep me from YOU; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

THE GOOD: Paul was specifically talking about all the good “religious” stuff he had done in this passage. He is saying that religion and good works can keep me from fully knowing YOU. Lord, help me to never rest on my accomplishments. Help me never think that I have done enough. All the things I have accomplished have not made me better than anyone else or earned any special privileges from YOU. I have not impressed YOU with my piety. Everything I have done has been for YOUR glory. I don’t want to stop or slow down in doing good but I don’t want pride to keep me from YOU. I want to go on expressing my love and passion for YOU with my whole life. Let the things I do come from a grateful heart and not from trying to manipulate YOU into giving me something or trying to impress other people. I want to know YOU, not get stuff or impress people!

THE BAD: Another way the past can keep me from YOU is when I focus on the bad stuff in my past. I can so easily sink back into guilt and self-condemnation. Somehow I think that YOU came and died for my sin but if I do it again, YOU will reject me. As if YOU haven’t proven that YOU will push through every barrier I put up in order to have a relationship with me. YOU are determined to pursue me and nothing I have done can disqualify me. Help me to not dwell on my failures. Help me press through them to know YOU!

THE UGLY: I can also miss out on knowing YOU fully by dwelling on the ugly things that have been done to me in my past. YOU told us to forgive, not because those who hurt us deserve it, but because unforgiveness keeps me from YOU. I want to forgive so I can be free to know YOU completely. Help me let go of everything so I can push on toward YOU.

For Me???

Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. (Phillipans 2:6-8)

As I read that this passage, I am again blown away by the love You have shown for me. I can’t comprehend how You could not consider equality with God something to cling to. I would have grasped it and held on to it for dear life. I probably would have couched it in religious terms and said something like, “I need this power to help people…” But You experienced equality with God for eternity and didn’t consider it something to be grasped or held onto. Instead You emptied Yourself and, fully knowing what you were getting into, You came here and became one of us.

The unbelievable thing is, You did it for us. Or even more unbelievable, You did it for me. I focus so much on the cross (and rightly so) but You had already shown Your love in giving up heaven to come here and suffer with us. And You did it all before I did anything of worth. You gave up heaven knowing how I would reject You and knowing all my filth. You didn’t test me to see if I was worthy. Your love went first. You proved Your love long before I ever even thought about responding.

What really stretches the powers of my comprehension is that You consider a relationship with me to be more important than equality with God… I am more important to You than being in heaven with Your Father. I am more important to You than Your comfort. Wow, how can I treat our relationship so lightly when it is that important to You? Lord, help me remember today how much You love me. Help me respond throughout this day in that kind of love.

The Measuring Rod

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load (Gal 6:4-5 NIV)

This verse really jumped out at me this morning. So many times I spend my time comparing and measuring myself against others. I spend so much time trying to see if I am better than someone else at this or that instead of just judging if I am doing the best I can. What good is it to be better than someone else at something but not the best at it that I can be? We do this in physical training. When I ran I always timed myself and compared to my fastest time. When I lifted weights, I recorded everything to compare to my “max” or personal best in that lift. What good was it to lift more than a child if I wasn’t challenging myself to grow stronger? That is what it is like when I judge myself by comparing myself to others. That is a sure path to either pride and judgmentalism or jealousy and depression.

One way I need to apply this verse is in regards to those I think I am better than in certain areas. Many times I find myself judging people harshly because I do not struggle with what they struggle with. And then I give myself grace in the areas in which I do struggle. For example, I feel holy because I don’t smoke but excuse jealousy and laziness in myself. Paul says I should test my own actions. I know the filth and selfishness that dwells in me. I need to judge my holiness but how much of that I am turning over to You not by how long ago I got over what so and so is doing. Doing this simple thing will keep me humble.

The other way I need to apply this verse is in regards to those I think have it better than I do. Just yesterday I found myself struggling with jealousy over a young couple in ministry who are being blessed. I was jealous that I who have been in ministry for 20 years am struggling to pay bills while they who have been at it for just a few years have lots of cool toys (this refers to some of the ugliness mentioned above). You are telling me to judge or test myself against myself. You have taken care of me every step of the way and I need to focus on that not on comparing myself to others.

Lord, please help me today to only measure myself against myself and against You. This will drive me to Your grace and strength. I can’t do this without Your power.