The Titanic. The name itself was impressive. Look at the root word… Titan. No pressure on that vessel, huh? They called it ‘unsinkable’. It never even finished its maiden voyage. Some of the wealthiest people in the world had purchased tickets to sail on the largest ship afloat at the time, but couldn’t find a seat on a cheap lifeboat when it mattered most. Think about that. All the money they paid to be on a luxury liner, and they would have given their fortune for a lifeboat they could not buy. There were not even enough lifeboats for everyone on the ship. Reports tell us that there were only enough lifeboats for a little over half of the people on board, and only enough for one third of the ship’s total capacity. Can we say, “Overconfidence?” To be overconfident is to be ‘foolishly adventurous or foolishly bold.” One is overconfident when they go beyond confidence. It is one thing to believe your car is the safest one on the road. It is another thing to drive without your seatbelt on to test the safety of your car. It is one thing to believe that your seatbelt is working. It is another thing to drive into a telephone pole to prove it. That is going beyond confidence. The safety features should encourage safe activity, not increase foolishness. The people sailing the Titanic should not have been so confident in the safety of their ship that they did not equip it with things that would ensure its safety. The old-timers don’t call that confidence. They call it foolhardiness… “foolishly doing things that are too dangerous or risky.” Life is risky enough without going out of your way to prove how confident you are in yourself. Yet people do this every day. God will ask the believer to do some crazy stuff. Just following Jesus is an adventure. It may cost you your job, your prestige, some friends, and possibly even family members. But the only thing crazier than following Jesus is not following Jesus. I don’t know how people make it through life tragedies without Christ. Confidence is a good thing. Confidence can be defined a couple of ways. It is “a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something.” It can also be defined as, “a feeling or belief that someone or something is good or has the ability to succeed at something.” The Christian version of confidence is a blending of these two. Christians have confidence that we can succeed at whatever God asks because we believe that Christ has the ability to succeed at whatever God asks of us… because Christ is working in us. The apostle Paul, who had some experience with shipwrecks, put it this way, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13) So we are to work out our own salvation, knowing that God is working in us. That sounds like cheating. But didn’t the smartest kids always seem like they were cheating? In reality, they just knew what needed to be known, and were confident for the test. Knowing that Christ is our confidence is not cheating. It is knowing the reality. That brings confidence for our tests. Paul, a man who had a lot of earthly reason to be confident in his own life, also wrote that we as believers have “boldness and confidence access through faith in Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:12) So even if God asks us to set sail on a ship that doesn’t have enough lifeboats (our own life), we can confidently do so because Jesus is our lifeboat. Now, if God doesn’t tell you to sail a certain course, and you launch out on your own, good luck with that. You will likely be brought down by a big chunk of frozen water. And how ironic is it that the biggest, most advanced ship in the world was sunk by contact with water? There are two things I know. I cannot trust myself without Jesus. And I can totally trust Jesus with my life. To quote Paul once more, “To Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us - to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21) Understand that Paul’s life often looked like a foolhardy, overconfident exhibition. But when you live in faith (confidence) as he did, you come to understand that the only unsinkable plan is to get in the boat with Jesus. Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. If you don’t promote yourself, who will promote you? This seems to be the philosophy of the day. It is one thing to be confident in who you are and share your strengths. But some people have crossed a line and promote themselves at a level that would make Don King blush. Self-promotion is a mixture of bragging and selling yourself based on the bragging. I think as social creatures, most of us want to know about other people. But in a day where everyone can have multiple sites to advertise their worth, it can become a little much. It is one thing to communicate your accomplishments at the appropriate time. It is another thing to give your resume every time it is your turn to speak. I think most of the time self-promotion occurs because an individual wants to be significant. And don’t we all want to be significant? The question is, how far will we go to achieve it? Our culture seems to agree that self-promotion is the best path to significance. Just look at all of the ‘reality shows’. Players are all about getting to the next round. And to do so they need to impress the other players, or the judges, or the viewing audience, or all three. Every other player becomes a step ladder for them. This mentality has crept into the general life and culture. This is not playing out well in our workplace or relationships. Self-promotion is basically us shining a spotlight on ourselves. The problem is, we weren’t designed to walk in God’s light and at the same time bask in our own light. Even looking at the life of Jesus, one may think that wherever He went He was promoting His miracles, teaching, Messiahship, etc. But He wasn’t. Jesus’ ministry was not a self-promotion tour. In fact, He always deflected glory to the Father. His primary purpose on earth was not to get people to believe in what He could accomplish through signs and wonders. Everything Jesus did on the earth was to show us who the Father is. He is the Way… not to Himself, but to the Father. At one point Jesus actually said, “I do not seek my own glory.” You know who was seeking the glory of Christ? The Father. Even in God there is no selfish ambition or self-promotion. Jesus is the Light of the world. A light does not exist to bring attention to itself. You can’t actually see the sun very well. It a very bright star, but it doesn’t shine so we can see it. It shines light so we can see everything else. In simply fulfilling its purpose the sun becomes incredibly significant. We would surely miss the sun if it disappeared tomorrow. Yet we rarely think about the sun. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Light of the world, who coming into the world brings light to every person. In that process, as we surrender our lives to Him, we become the light of the world. We aren’t the source of light. Jesus is. But His light shines through us. We aren’t the light of the world so people will see us. We are the light so they can see themselves in their condition and look to see Jesus who would save them. So Jesus came to testify to the Father. We now live unto Christ by the power of His Spirit who resides in us. The original question was, “If you don’t promote yourself, who will promote you?” Well, God will. The apostle James was the brother of Jesus. Talk about living in a large shadow. Eventually James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He had this to say about self-promotion, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people! Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”(James 4:6-10) Be confident today in what you have accomplished. Look for opportunities to succeed. But do not push yourself forward so much that you become the main attraction. Shine a light. Make sure you are shining in the right direction. If you shine bright enough, people will not be able to avoid you, and will see exactly why you exist. Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Have things ever gotten out of hand in your life? Sometimes things get out of hand in a good way. Like that time you won a new car, but couldn’t pick it up because you were on that 6-month long vacation around the world, celebrating the fact that Ben & Jerry’s named an ice cream flavor after you. Okay… so maybe we are mostly overwhelmed by negative things. Like that time you couldn’t take a vacation because your old car broke down and all you could afford to eat was generic brand ice cream sandwiches. Things do tend to snowball. One baseball manager said, “Losing streaks build faster than winning streaks.” Sometimes you just need to stop the swell of losses and reset. This happens during a season, and during a game. During a game each team has a certain number of opportunities to stop the clock. These are called ‘time-outs’. Coaches can use time-outs for whatever reason they like. But a coach will often use a time-out to stop the momentum of the opposing team. This is especially true in fast paced games like basketball. The game may be close, and then all of a sudden the other team goes on a run, out-scoring your team 12-2. A game that was tied at 15 is suddenly 27-17. The crowd has come alive with deafening cheers, and the atmosphere becomes so heavy, the players have a difficult time turning the tide. This can happen even if a team is in the lead. If your team is leading by 12 points, and within a minute the opposing team scores 10 unanswered points, the momentum shift may require you to call a time-out before things get crazy. In life, we have momentum shifts. There are times when the enemy makes a serious run at us. The tide turns. Though you were winning last month, things change and instead of feeling like you having the tiger by the tail, you sense the tiger has you by his teeth. You are drowning in trouble. A bad doctors report, your car is in the shop, you have to meet with your child’s teacher because of disciplinary issues, and your boss is about to lay off a couple of people in your department, and you are sure your name is on that short list. Life has quickly become overwhelming for you… and not in a good way. You hear spectators cheering against you, and your own friends are actually booing you. It may be time to call a time-out. Take a minute to reset your strategy, catch your breath, and stop the momentum. Taking a time-out may be the last thing you think you can do… but you can, and you should at the right time. During a time-out you can pray. You can think. You can breathe deeply. You can read the Bible. You can call that friend in your life who is truly encouraging and always brings a good word into your life. The enemy will try and make you think that you have to keep running at 100 miles an hour. But you have time-outs available to you. You don’t gain any points by stopping the clock The score will not change during your time-out. But you will. And you will set yourself up to step back into the game refreshed and with a new attitude. Calling a time-out in life does not mean you are losing. It means you don’t want to get so caught up by the whirlwind of opposition that you lose your bearings and mission. It shows that you will control the tempo of life instead of letting it control you. Sometimes you take time out on the weekend, but honestly every day there need to be times that you stop play in order to get your game together. Even Jesus did this. The disciple Luke records this, “The news about Jesus spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16) Use your time-outs wisely today… but use them. As a cool side note, there are two types of time-outs in basketball. There is a full time-out, which is 60 seconds. And there are also 20-second time-outs. Sometimes you need a minute to reset. Other times you just need a few seconds. Utilize both of these in your life today. There are also time-outs called by the officials during a game. These are mandatory clock-stoppages if the teams have not used their own time-outs by a certain point. When God stops your life for a minute, take advantage of that to re-order your life. Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Have you ever needed something so badly that you went out in the middle of the night to get it, dressed like you would never dress to go out? Maybe it was for medicine or some other necessity that couldn't wait until morning. At the time, you knew you were unacceptable by your own standards. BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER. You hoped no one you knew would see you in that condition. But if they did, IT WOULDN'T MATTER. Sometimes we see people coming to God that way. Maybe you have been in this place. The worship music had your name all over it. You found your needs deeply ingrained in the prayer. Every testimony slapped you in the face. The special song was especially for you. Then when the preacher started his sermon you knew you were in trouble. Every sentence was aimed at you. That service was the last place you wanted to be, but the only place you could be. By the time the first verse of the altar song was sung, you were hitting the altar. Eyes puffy, nose running, face flushed, blurry vision and all. BUT IT DIDN’T MATTER. You hoped the cleaning lady had re-stocked the tissues, which were going to be nearly useless. (Apparently the inventor of tissues never came under Godly conviction. If he had, he would have made them out of shop rags.) You knew every kid and adult in the sanctuary/tabernacle was looking at you, wondering what awful sin you had committed, and whether you would make it through the night. BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER. What mattered is that you were going to find God at that altar. It may have been in your car parked at the beach, or at an overlook on a hillside. Maybe it was on the darkest night of your life as you rolled crying in your yard under the moon. But you found God. There are promises regarding that moment. From early in Scripture we find that God promises to be near to those who seek Him. This seeking isn’t a casual, get dressed up, put your make-up on, go out to the mall on a beautiful day, and look for that perfect pair of shoes you may or may not need. It is a serious emergency journey. Seeking is not just browsing. Moses once prophesied over the children of Israel that they would eventually backslide from their position of favor with God, and become slaves to other nations because of their sins. "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul." (Deuteronomy 4:29) Notice how he emphasizes the importance of diligence in their 'God-seeking'. This is not a casual 'scan', as if they are looking for the popcorn they dropped in the dark theater. No. This is more like the way someone would search for that life-saving inhaler for their child who is having an attack. A passer-by would think they were crazy. BUT IT WOULDN'T MATTER. Seeking God is an act of faith, however feeble the act may appear at times. The writer of Hebrews states, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."(11:6) So if you find yourself in a place where you are away from God. Just seek Him out. He wants to be sought after. More importantly, He wants to be found. He knows you are a mess. BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER. What really matters is that you seek Him with your whole heart. Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. Recently, while driving, I had to rely on help from others to see if there were any dangers around us. We had so much in the vehicle, much of my view was blocked. These are called blindspots. I don't mind receiving help from those who can see what I can't. I guess I could get all embarrassed about it, and worry that people would think I am not a good driver because I can't see all that is going on everywhere, all the time... But how foolish would that be? Am I a better driver when I am too concerned with my image to receive help from those around me, or when I ask for help to avoid what could be a wreck? We all have blindspots… areas in our lives where we cannot see what is about to cause us trouble. Blindspots often hide inconsistencies, which will at some point become very apparent. Denying their existence does not make them go away. We have a tendency to fool ourselves about ourselves. The Bible says that the heart of man is deceitful. We justify in our own lives what we find offensive in the lives of others. Even a maturing/mature believer should have people in his/her life to help them see the blindspots. I know some people reading this will say, “I don’t have blindspots. But if I do, the Holy Spirit will reveal them to me. I don’t need a person to do that.” Well, the main way God reveals your blindspots is through other people. The only thing worse than having blindspots is choosing to have deafspots where you won’t listen to people trying to warn you about what is in your blindspot. I think we have a hard time admitting our problems to ourselves and each other because we are afraid that others will think less of us if we admit to short-comings in certain areas of life. Satan tries to convince us that if people see the chinks in our armor, they won't take us seriously, or we will seem to be a hypocrite. But it is when we act like we don't have weak areas that we are hypocritical, and people pick up on that quickly. At the end of the day, you may be the only person in the room that doesn't think you have issues. Everyone else sees what you won't. Most people don't mind fellowshipping with or learning from someone who is humble enough to admit their weaknesses. But pride, in all its forms is a major turnoff. People will not respect someone who refuses to admit they have flaws. Blindspots don't have to destroy us. In fact, the blindspot is only a problem if there is no one there to tell you what is hidden by the blindspot, or if you won’t listen. God's way is for us to allow others to speak into our lives and reveal those things we can't see before they wreck us. So, what is in your blind spot? I know, it isn't fair to ask you that. Maybe you should ask someone who is traveling with you. One writer in the Bible put it this way, “Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception.” (Hebrews 3:12-13) The word translated “encourage” in that passage comes from the same word Jesus used to describe what the Holy Spirit will do for the believer in “coming alongside to help”. We have blindspots. Perhaps God allows us to have these so we will know our need for Him and others. Be open to the wisdom of others in your life today. And with the right attitude help others see what they can’t so they can arrive safely at their destination. Find more of David’s work at Heart Of Ministry. |
AuthorMy name is David, and I want to know God more, and help other people find Him. Archives
March 2019
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