Dum Dums!

Dum Dums
March 26, 2012 by Christine Hoover

My bank teller must be a dad.

Every time I go to the bank, he gives my children the exact same colored lollipops. I’ve never asked him to do this, but, without fail, he digs through the lollipop basket until he finds a matching set of Dum Dum lollipops.

He must be a dad because he knows about the fight he is saving me. The one where each of my boys are eyeing the lollipops they don't have rather than enjoying the one they do. The one where they whine for their favorite color. The one in which they are not satisfied until they have what their sibling has.

As I drive away from the bank’s drive-through window, I inwardly thank this man, and I think about this picture of human jealousy: envious, controlling, domineering, possessive, and self-focused.

God is a Dad, but he is not like my bank teller.

He gives lollipops out to everyone, but he does not give them equally or similarly. He gives them perfectly, however, and until we trust that, we’ll be dissatisfied with what we’ve been given.

As a Father, God knows his kids’ tendency to want what their siblings have. It's hard not wanting the bright pink lollipop when we’re given the brown one. But unlike our spiteful jealousy, God’s jealousy for us says, “I absolutely know what is best for you and I want you to have it. Because I love you, I will not give you anything less than my best. However, what I give you is going to be different than what I give that person you are comparing yourself to.” He lifts our eyes up to him and away from watching others and reminds us that he has perfectly and strategically given us our gifts, talents, and ministries.

Romans 8:28 reminds us that God is always working things for good on our behalf:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

“What a power would be unleashed in your life and mind if we really believed that the almighty God, whose counsel cannot be frustrated, is this very minute, busily at work making sure that what happens to us this afternoon and tomorrow at home and at work is only what is best for us!" (Source)
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Psalm 23 on Vimeo

Psalm 23 on Vimeo

A War Within

A War Within

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." Galatians 5:17

In every believer’s heart there is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new. The old nature is very active, and loses no opportunity of plying all the weapons of its deadly armory against newborn grace. On the other hand, the new nature is ever on the watch to resist and destroy its enemy.

Grace Within

Grace within us will employ prayer and faith and hope and love, to cast out the evil. It takes unto it the “whole armor of God,” and wrestles earnestly. These two opposing natures will never cease to struggle so long as we are in this world.

A Helper

The enemy is so securely entrenched within us that he can never be driven out while we are in this body. But, although we are closely beset, and often in sore conflict, we have an Almighty Helper, even Jesus, the captain of our salvation, who is ever with us, and who assures us that we shall eventually come off more than conquerors through him. With such assistance, the newborn nature is more than a match for its foes.

Fight On!

Are you fighting with the adversary today? Are Satan, the world, and the flesh, all against you? Be not discouraged nor dismayed. Fight on! God himself is with you. Fight on, “looking to Jesus,” and though long and stern be the conflict, sweet will be the victory, and glorious the promised reward.

“From strength to strength go on;

Wrestle, and fight, and pray,

Tread all the powers of darkness down,

                                                 And win the well-fought day.” –Charles Wesley

Don’t Focus on Your Strengths - Desiring God

Don’t Focus on Your Strengths

by Jon Bloom | March 2, 2012

The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation (Exodus 15:2).

For the past decade or so, discovering our strengths has been the buzz in North America, particularly in leadership and management circles. Lots of books have been published and numerous tests developed to help us identify our strengths.

The closest biblical parallels are texts like Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Romans 12:6–8, and others where we are given lists of gifts “that differ according to the grace given to us” by God. And we are urged to use them for the benefit of the church.

But note that even here the Bible tends to refer to “gifts” rather than “strengths.” The difference in focus, I think, is important for us. We tend to think of our strengths as inherently part of our identity. Strengths are our value-add; our competitive edge. But gifts connote grace. A gift does not originate with us. It’s something we receive from God and steward for his sake. Therefore our gifts are not so much our identity as our offering. And since God has given us these gifts, he’s not obliged to always put us in places where we can use them fully.

In fact, God frequently places us in positions where we struggle and feel weak for the very reason that he receives particular glory by showing his strength through our weaknesses.

This motif is woven through redemptive history: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). Why? “So that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29). God shames human strength to humble humans.

The Apostle Paul, who had extraordinary strengths, came to understand this so profoundly that he said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

So this is Paul’s strength-finders theory: our weaknesses are when Christ’s power — our true strength — is most clearly on display. Therefore we ought to boast in and be content with weaknesses.

What God really wants is for us to be “strong in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:10). And becoming strong in the Lord almost always requires that God weaken us. For it’s when our weakness forces us to depend on his strength that we grow in our understanding of the gospel and learn to walk by faith. And usually our deepest, most precious encounters with God occur in the context of our weaknesses, not our strengths.

There are helpful things to glean and apply from the world’s strength-finders resources. But don’t focus too long on them. Focus on the Bible. It’s the best strengths-finders manual out there. Becaus it’s not our strengths that it helps us to find. It helps us find God’s strength.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).

For the original post: Don’t Focus on Your Strengths - Desiring God

John 17 "The Turn"

Can you imagine being taught by Jesus? What that must have been like? Imagine if you were at that last supper and Jesus reaches for a basin, a pitcher and a clean cloth. Here is the Man, the Son of God, who you have dedicated your life to, and He kneels down in front of you. Jesus takes that pitcher of water and pours it into the basin. He then a takes the cloth and dips it into the basin of water, then rings it out. Christ then looks at you and smiles, then He looks toward your feet unstrapping your sandals and setting them aside. Then, Christ, the Son of God, your Master, your Leader, begins to take that cloth and wipe the sand and dirt off your feet. What an experience that must have been!

It's hard for us to understand the mood of that room but you can sense that it was a time for not discussing with Christ the issues of the world, it was a time for Christ to teach and for His followers to listen. Because Christ goes from washing their feet to teaching the basics of His ministry on earth. The reason He came. He shares with them the work of salvation that must be carried out in just a short hour. He shares with them the power that He will supply for them to encourage and help them through the trials ahead. And while some spoke up, they were quickly reminded of their weakness to follow. But then an amazing thing happens in chapter 17 of John...Christ does something that has never been done or at the very least, recorded for us to see so clearly and in such length...Jesus prays to God in front of His disciples.

In verse one of John 17 we see a literal shift in Christ's focus. He finishes teaching them and lifts His eyes toward heaven. By this time Judas has left and is in the process of handing Christ over to the religious authorities. Christ has shared with the disciples the core of the Gospel and given them a taste of the power that they will be given but with the "hour" at hand, Christ doesn't take the time to make it a lengthy time of teaching. No, with the dawn of His crucifixion on the horizon He takes the time to pray right in front of His disciples.

In the fist words that Christ speaks to God the Father, we are introduced to the theme that we will see throughout the entire prayer. "Glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You." Here is the purpose for this prayer; that the work that is going to be done through the arrest, the trial, the death, the resurrection and through the work of the disciples-might bring glory to the Father. There is no hint of self righteousness in the sacrifice Christ is going to endure. There is only an acknowledgment that enablement was coming from the Father to the Son and the submission of the Son was not about rank but about bringing the world something it had not yet experienced. This thing was opportunity to restore the relationship between God and man through the work of Jesus Christ. This is why Christ asks to be glorified. It was not for selfish ambition, but so that the Father would be glorified by a door being open unto a world without hope!

So...what are you praying for...are you asking the Lord for strength to continue at your job, to be a better father, mother, husband, wife, brother, sister, child, to raise your kids, to stay away from sin, to be a better witness, to defeat a troubling sin, or to be provided the things you think you need? Or are pleading with God, as our Savior did, "Lord, glorify me in my life today so that Your name is glorified by others seeing You in my life!"

Challenge: Be especially attentive to your prayers this week. Make it a purposed focus to ask God to glorify you so that He will be glorified. We are not here for us but that in everything we do we might bring honor and praise to the name of Jesus!

Press On!

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