Caleb told me, “It’s like your students. There are some kids, you could be teaching something really simple and no matter how many ways you teach it, they won’t get it. Just like you; that’s where you are. You don’t get it, yet. But that’s just you. Doesn’t mean you can’t get there, but it won’t be now.” He doesn’t realize how impactful that statement was to me, but lately and for many years of my life, I’ve struggled with wanting to be someone else or do other things. Please hear me out... it is important and wise to have goals, wants and desires. But what are they rooted in? Sarah and Abraham desired the child that was promised to them; Caleb and Joshua aimed to conquer the Canaanites, and many people throughout Jesus’ ministry desired to be healed. But in all these examples, their trust and faith was in the Lord. My struggle to be accepted is typically rooted in myself. Think for yourself…where do you feel the most angst, discontentment and surge of comparison? Is it when people don’t invite you somewhere? Someone gets credit that you deserve? When you feel people don’t like you? When someone takes advantage of you or does you dirty? When you see people’s Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Periscope, etc.? When you see people engaged, married…just booed up in general? Achievements of others? People YOUNGER than you doing the things you desire? This list goes ON! When we do these comparisons, nothing good comes from it. We dig ourselves into a deeper pit of despair than before. What if there’s a better way? What must I do to get out of this pit and see the light? I think it’s summed up in one word: acceptance--otherwise known as “Let go and let God.” When we realize that anything we have, don’t have, can do and can’t comes from God, we’re free to live our lives! 2 Corinthians 10:12-13 says, “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God has assigned to us.” Paul chose not to compare himself to others because he knew this was not wise! He knew what God had given him. This scripture surfaced during a time when people were questioning Paul’s ministry and basically who he was. I find it coincidental that not too far before this scripture is 2 Corinthians 10:5, which says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Too often we’re focusing on lies or things we don’t have adequate information about when we begin to compare or feel discontent. But what if we focused on what is true? What if we focused on what is better? What is best! Psalm 16:6 says, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.” We must first realize that God has already determined where we will be, what we can do and what he wants us to do. We must not fight against him and try to draw our own boundaries. We must accept where he has placed us. For me, this is apparent in many areas of my life. Just last month I had multiple encounters with people just being evil, and I tried so hard to execute my own justice, but I had to accept what Jesus says, and he says in this world we will have trouble. He says he will fight my battles. In my relationships, I tried so hard not to be friends with certain people because they reminded me of the things I disliked or hadn’t accepted about myself. But when I finally accepted that these are the people God brought into my life, I was able to enjoy them and their company. I realized how awesome these people were. I saw how God was trying to use me in their lives in they in mines. And I ultimately stopped wearing myself out by trying to cross the boundaries God didn’t give me of trying to have different friends. Ultimately, I was able to accept myself. God made no mistake in how He created me and that’s what I have to look to in every moment of discontentment. We must keep our eyes on Christ and what is above. Scripture confirms this in so many areas. Hebrews 12: 2, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Psalm 16:8-11, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure…You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Even Colossians tells us to focus on things above. So my friend, know that you are not alone in this struggle. Remember we are created to flourish! We are created in His image with a purpose from him. However, we diminish His purpose when we focus on ourselves or what we’re not. We must focus on Him and all He is and all that He’s given us in Him. And when we accept all those truths, we can truly live! We can Let go and let God have His way!
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“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” -1 Peter 5:2-4 With my first experiences coming to church as a very new believer who did not grow up going to church or have any type of understanding of what Christianity is, I had no recollection of what a pastor is or what a pastor does. The understanding that I had was that the pastor stood on stage, taught the Word of God and prayed. God taught me the role of a pastor through the reading of the Bible and I realized the enormous responsibility and role that pastors have in caring for Jesus’ wife, the church. Pastors are not perfect and they are like the rest of mankind, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Along with 1 Peter 5:2-4, which Peter is speaking about the role and heart and attitude of a pastor, what is a pastor’s role according to the Word of God and not set by the culture of the church? This list is from Brian Croft’s book, “The Pastor’s Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds:
My prayer through this devotional is to realign our expectations that we would have for our pastors. Pastors are not called to run programs or to please the congregation with what the congregation wants. There is nothing wrong with programs, it is my belief that as pastors shepherd their flock and they begin to sense by the Spirit of the Lord that there is a need within the congregation for a specific program to meet that need and use programs such as a Recovery Step program, marriage program or training program, etc. to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Brian Croft states it this way in The Pastor’s Ministry, “A pastor’s true calling, then, is to shepherd the souls of God’s people humbly, willingly, and eagerly, and to do all of this on behalf of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ” as 1 Peter 5:2-4 states. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, I want to ask and challenge you, if God has called and placed these pastors who are biblically qualified (1 Tim. 3) to care and to shepherd your soul and to exercise out the Biblical priorities listed earlier, how can you serve your pastor in helping him accomplish these tasks within the local church that you are a member of? If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, welcome, know that this is still a broken and fallen world and pastors are no different. They are not superman but they are called to be mature men in Jesus Christ yet they are not perfect. Don’t submit yourself to any pastor, submit to 1 Timothy 3 pastors. 1. Croft, Brian. The Pastor’s Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2015.
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Devote yourselves to prayer…what does that mean? Simply put, it means pray often and pray regularly. It’s not meant to be infrequent or hit and miss. Being devoted to prayer means it’s part of your regular life, the same way eating and sleeping are. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like my prayer life. If I am honest, I have a pretty causal prayer life. It’s not that I don’t want to pray or have an unconfessed sin that is keeping me from praying. I get bored, distracted, and discouraged because I feel like I am talking to myself. To be clear, I do pray and thank God for saving me, for the many undeserved blessings he has given me, and for the salvation of family and friends. However, I wouldn’t say I am “devoted” to prayer or praying without ceasing. It grieves me that I don’t have a better prayer life. I pray often that God would give me the desire to pray. I was reading John Piper and he talks about our method of praying and how our method could be the reason Christians don’t pray or pray steadfastly. My method typically includes praying for the same old things…which gets boring. Piper says, “When praying is boring, you don’t feel like praying. And when you don’t feel like praying, you don’t pray—at least with fervency or consistency. Prayer feels much more like a duty than delight.” That is SO true for me! Luckily, there is a solution! Pray the Bible. Slowly read a passage of Scripture and pray about all that comes to mind as you read. John Piper says it this way, “open the Bible, start reading it, and pause at every verse and turn it into a prayer.” This has helped me SO much over the last few weeks. I can honestly say my prayer life is not boring and I am not saying the same old things in prayer. It’s SIMPLE, POWERFUL, and BIBLICAL. Because I have found joy and delight in praying, I pray when I am driving or when I am running so the praying without ceasing is slowing starting to mark my life. It’s a daily battle. Like Julie said a few weeks ago, I will fail but I am not a failure. I love this quote by Wesley Duewel (author of Let God Guide You Daily), “When God has people who prevail in prayer, and people who know how to recognize the voice of the Spirit and obey without question, there is no limit to what God can do.” Give it try and see how that awakens your prayer life! |
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