Dependence on God

Problems and leadership go together.

Read what happened to Paul.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

One of God’s greatest goals in working with his leaders is to keep them humble and dependent on Him. So in order to develop this dependence on God, He sends trials into their lives. Paul says he suffered “hardships” and was under “great pressure” which led him to the point of desperation, believing he would die from the circumstances surrounding him – “we felt the sentence of death.”

Have you ever felt this way? Welcome to God’s School of Leadership.

God's goal is to increase our faith, trust, and dependence on Him – “this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Paul and his fellow leaders passed the testing of their faith – “On him we have set our hope”.

When life comes crashing in on you, God is stretching your faith and character so that you will learn not to trust in yourself “but on God, who raises the dead.”

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Staying On-Fire for God

Recently a teenager wanted to know how she could stay “on fire” for God. “Good question”, I thought. Over my 30 years of being a Christian, I have seen many young people (and old as well) come to Christ, only to be sucked into the world shortly thereafter. I think it is very hard to live for Christ as a young person and doubly so in today’s modern world with so much peer pressure to do wrong and the easy availability of evil media.

So after thinking of HOW TO STAY “ON-FIRE” FOR GOD, I suggest the following practices:

1. Prayer

As a young man who was just appointed king, Solomon prayed:

"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

1 Kings 3:7-9

Make prayer your every-day habit. Like Solomon, pray specifically for:

· Humility – that God would teach you his ways.

· Wisdom to know right from wrong.

· Strength to do what’s right.

2. The Word

You must meditate on the Word of God every day.David loved God from his youth. Part of his secret for staying passionate for God was meditating on God’s Word. David wrote:

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Psalms 1:1-3

Do you want a prosperous spiritual life? Meditate on God’s word every day.

3. Fellowship

If you reread Psalms 1:1-3 you will discover another of David’s secrets to remaining on-fire for God – choosing the right kind of friends. David says that you will be “blessed” or happy if you stay away for the wicked, the sinners, and the mockers (those who mock God). We need to have as close friends other Christians who are also walking with God.

David’s best friend was a young man named Jonathan who also loved God and did great things for God. Each of them encouraged the other to walk faithfully with God.

David’s son Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived, wrote this:

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 13:20

Paul told his younger disciple Timothy to pursue God with other young men who also demonstrated a passion for Christ.

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

2 Timothy 2:22

4. Gospel

Share Christ with others. Paul prayed this prayer for his friend Philemon:

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Philemon 6

The more we share the Gospel, the more that message of God’s love will take root in our heart. When Christ’s love fills our heart, so will our fire to stay close to Him and do his will.

So the path to remain “Hot for God” is simple – Stay in Prayer, the Word, Fellowship, and sharing Christ. Simple, but not easy. Not easy because we must fight with the devil who tempts us, the world that calls us to follow it’s values, and our own flesh which is lazy and craves the things this world offers.

But with God’s help we can stay “Hot for God.” Follow these principles and you will surely succeed.

Hearing the Heart of God

By a show of hands, how many of you want God to pour out his heart to you? Who would like for God to make his thoughts known to you?

I hope all of us would raise our hands.

If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
Proverbs 1:23

To respond correctly means to humbly submit to God's commands and obey what He says. Only through humble obedience do we begin to gain insight into who God is - His character and attributes. But to stubbornly reject God's will for our lives will lead to disastrous consequences.

Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, 30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them
Proverbs 1:29-32

God's rebuke can come through:

• God's Word (2 Timothy 3:16)
• Other People (Psalms 141:5)
• God himself speaking to our heart (Psalms 32:3-5)

Let us humbly accept God's correction and we will know Him better and also enjoy his blessing.

but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.
Proverbs 1:33

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Final Destiny

In trying times we all believe things will get better. A brighter day is coming. Our hope is found in believing that better things will come tomorrow.

But what do we do when we realize that there is no better tomorrow coming. When we are on the threshold of death and we know that our best days are behind us.

Job found himself in this situation. Because of his physical illness he thought that there was no better days coming - the sun was setting on his life. Yet he dug deep into his soul and found HOPE.

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed,yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes — I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19:25-27

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Job found faith, hope, and comfort in his final destiny. He no longer expected a better tomorrow, at least not on earth. But his heart longed to see his Redeemer, in his new heavenly body, with his new eyes, in a new place - a place free from pain and suffering. A place where God his Savior would welcome him in His loving arms forever.

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Do Others Depend on You?

How wonderful it is when we can depend on people to do the right thing. When the children do their chores, when employees complete their tasks, when Christians are at their place of ministry on time and ready to serve.

Some people say dogs are dependable. They greet you with a wagging tale and a licking tongue no matter what time you get home.

Seriously, dependability is one of the critical factors that make people successful in life.

In his book Run with the Bulls, Tim Irwin describes dependable people as individuals who...

...plan, organize, and finish their projects. They follow through---you can rely on them to get things done. They are purposeful, determined, and have very high standards.

This kind of faithful and dependable ethic elicits trust from others, especially managers and supervisors. Irwin continues to state:

A manager finds it incredibly refreshing when an employee discovers a problem and then exercises initiative to address that problem in a capable way before the manager even knows about it.

Dependable people use their wits and resources to solve problems or come up with possible solutions even before they take it up the chain of command.

Dependability is part of being faithful - using what God has given us to the best of our ability for his glory.

Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.

1 Cor 4:2 NLT

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Holding our Tongue in Suffering

Job suffered a lot. He lost his kids, his servants, his livestock, and finally his health.

When we are suffering, we are tempted to blame God – “Why has God let this happen to me?” At that point we have two options: TRUST in God’s love, strength, and His good purpose for our lives, or FIGHT Him by denying Him or cursing Him.

David sung about God’s love and strength in Psalms 62:

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, 12 and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.
Psalms 62:11-12

Job desired to avoid the “denying or cursing God” option but he knew he was in a very weakened condition. He said:

"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off! 10 Then I would still have this consolation — my joy in unrelenting pain — that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
Job 6:8-10

Job preferred that God would let him die rather than denying Him. It’s tough to stay faithful in suffering, especially if you don’t know why God is allowing the pain.

In the same discourse Job’s faithfulness begins to crack under the pressure of such great pain and suffering.

"What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, 18 that you examine him every morning and test him every moment? 19 Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? 20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?
Job 7:17-20

So Job, as human as we are, begins to accuse God of mercilessly testing man “every moment” and targeting Job for unknown reasons.

While Job has these moments of weakness, in the end Job remained faithful to God – TRUSTING in God’s love in spite of his pain.

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Good Christians?

The following is a reprint of Pastor Fancis Chan's article found in Catalystspace.  I hope they don't mind I borrowed it, but it was too good not to have in my blog.

ARE YOU A GOOD CHRIST?

By Francis Chan

I think it's time we stop asking ourselves the question: "Am I a good Christian?" We live in a time when the term "Christian" has been so diluted that millions of immoral but nice people genuinely consider themselves "good Christians." We have reduced the idea of a good Christian to someone who believes in Jesus, loves his or her family, and attends church regularly. Others will label you a good Christian even though your life has no semblance to the way Christ spent His days on earth. Perhaps we should start asking the question: "Am I a good Christ?" In other words, do I look anything like Jesus? This question never even entered my mind until a friend of mine made a passing comment to me one day.

Dan is a long time friend of mine. In fact, he's the pastor who performed my wedding. He was talking to me about a pastor named Von. Von has been working with youth in the San Diego area for decades. Many of his students have gone on to become amazing missionaries and powerful servants of God. Dan described a trip to Tijuana, Mexico with Pastor Von. (Von has been ministering to the poor in the dumps of Tijuana for years). Dan didn't speak of the awful living conditions of those who made their homes amidst the rubbish. What impacted Dan the most was the relationship he saw between Von and the people of this community. He spoke of the compassion, sacrifice, and love that he witnessed in Von's words and actions as he held these malnourished and un-bathed children. Then he made the statement that sent me reeling:

"The day I spent with Von was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus."

Dan explained that the whole experience was so eerie because he kept thinking to himself: "If Jesus were still walking on earth in the flesh, this is what it would feel like to walk alongside of Him!" After that discussion, I kept wondering if anyone had ever said that about me-"The day I spent with Francis was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus." The answer was an obvious "no." Would any honest person say that about you?

What bothered me was not that I hadn't "arrived," but that I wasn't even heading in the right direction. I hadn't made it my goal to resemble Christ. I wasn't striving to become the kind of person who could be mistaken for Jesus Christ. Isn't it ironic that a man can be known as a successful pastor, speaker, and CHRISTian even if his life doesn't resemble Christ's?

1 John 2:6 "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

When John made that statement, he wasn't speaking about how to be a church leader or even how to be a "good" Christian. He merely stated that anyone who calls himself Christian must live like Jesus did. So how did Jesus live? You could make a list of character traits to compare yourself to, but it would be far more beneficial to simply read through one of the Gospels. After you get a bird's-eye view of the life of Christ, do the same with your own. Are you comfortable with the similarities and differences?

It's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of "success" as American church-goers define it. The thought of being well-known and respected is alluring. There have been times when I've been caught up in the fun of popularity. I've even mistaken it for success. Biblically, however, success is when our lives parallel Christ's. Truth is, there are many good Christs that you'll never read about in a magazine. They are walking as Jesus walked, but they are too focused and humble to pursue their own recognition.

May we make it our goal to someday have someone say of us: "The day/hour/15 minutes I spent with ______ was the closest thing I've ever experienced to walking with Jesus."