Spiritual Targets: Growing in Christ

Remember the games where we tried to place a game piece on a target after we had been blindfolded and spun around a few times? We knew what we wanted to achieve, and we knew what the target looked like. We were also very willing to do our best, but the fact remains that we have difficulty hitting a target we cannot see. It's even more difficult to hit a target we do not have!

As Christians, each of us has the goal of becoming more Christ-like, as is stated in Philippians 3:12-14. "Not that I have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." We know that our ultimate goal is, but how do we get there? Do we have a plan of action toward spiritual growth?

As Zig Ziglar, a Christian, motivational speaker says, most people spend more time planning their vacations than they spend planning their career, and most people spend more time planning their wedding than they spend cultivating a successful marriage! How much time do we spend setting goals and taking plans of action in our Christian lives? Perhaps if we aren't growing much, it's because we have no specific, measurable goals.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 that the Christian life compares to a race, and if we want to cross the finish line victoriously, we must do more than just put forth effort. We must "run in such a way, as not without aim."

God's Family Tree

Have you ever researched your family tree? Doing so can be interesting and educational as you discover the who, when, where, why and how of your own family history.

The nation of Israel was meticulous about record keeping and took great pride in roll calling. The book of Numbers is a detailed account of generations of Israelites. Their inheritance was so important that even if they lost it, it would eventually revert back to them.

What about my own spiritual family tree? I am a child of the King. My brothers and sisters span throughout time and are born all over the world. Yet, no one is a "distant" relation in either time or space; no matter whether someone came into the family back in 200 A.D. or just a moment ago. There are no grandchildren, nieces, or cousins.

Our inheritance is equal and total for each of us. Favoritism does not exist. No one is ever disowned.
My Father is all powerful and everything is His! What a heritage!

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you." I Peter 1:14

Sing a New Song!

"Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy."
Psalm 33:1-3

Have you ever thought about writing your own Psalm of praise to the Lord? If we are ever guilty of merely mouthing the words to the songs in our worship service and singing without sincere awe and reverence in our hearts, then maybe we need to consider letting praise arise from our own words and "sing a new song"!

Praise the Lord
For it will bring joy to your heart to sing God's praises
God has given us the freedom to worship Him;
He desires to pour out His blessings upon us.
He comforts our hearts and heals our brokenness.
He is in control of everything and has provided for all our needs.
He is mighty; He is all powerful!
He has all wisdom and gives it to us when we ask.
Sing to the Lord and rejoice!
Raise up beautiful music to the heavens.
He makes the beauty of our world and blesses us with the richness of living.
He is not impressed with our intelligence or our talents. He doesn't sit in awe of our accomplishments. He longs to see our pride broken so that He can multiply our joy.
Praise the Lord, dear friends, praise God!

My Imagination: Angel Wings in Worship!

I have sometimes been accused of letting my imagination get the best of me, and I must admit that it has been true more than once! However, I believe that an imagination can be a healthy, creative tool in learning and that it can be an important factor of Christian growth.

Have you ever stood alone in the darkness of night and looked up to the stars, trying to capture the exhilaration the shepherds must have felt as a host of angels appeared to them and proclaimed glory to God when Jesus was born? Have you ever imagined what the guards must have felt as an angel appeared and rolled back the stone from Jesus' tomb? These are glorious moments in God's Word, and we can't fully appreciate them unless we use our imagination to re-create the situations and make ourselves a part of them.

During a certain few seconds of a worship service, my imagination takes over and becomes a wonderful part of my worship experience. As I hear Bible pages rustling when God's Word is about to be read, I can't help but think that it sounds like the settling of angel wings as God's kingdom prepares to worship and rejoice with us!

God has done so much for us and His works go beyond our dreams. Sometimes our imagination is an avenue for God to speak to us and make His Word more meaningful in our lives. As we read our Bibles and study God's messages, we can use our imagination to open our minds and hearts to what God would have us to know. Put yourself at the foot of the cross and see what God lays upon your heart.

Man's Plans and God's Purposes

"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.... When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.... The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Prov. 16:1-4, 7, & 9.

What do these verses tell us about mans plans and God's purposes? First, we see that they differ. Isaiah 55:8 & 9 says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than our ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." What might seem like an innocent, good idea to us can actually fall short of God's purpose. God also weighs our motives.

Verse 3 admonishes us to commit our works to the Lord so that our plans will be established. This assumes that we have considered our objectives and sought God's will concerning our goals and plans. It's difficult to hit a target we cannot see, but it's impossible to hit a target we do not have! In order to accomplish God's work, we must have goals, but they must be GOD's goals.

In Revelation, the letters to the churches commend them for their love, faith, perseverance, and reputation, but the Lord points out that they are not accomplishing His will. Are we going through the motions as we teach? worship? listen? serve? Do we have God-centered, measurable goals for our classes, groups, ministries, and lives?

What are we accomplishing? What is God accomplishing through us? What is God's purpose for me? for each of us?

Second Chances

What if God gave no second chances? What if our relationship with Him depended upon our ability to avoid displeasing and disappointing Him? What if He cast us aside once we made a bad decision or behaved in some way contrary to His expectations? Without God's grace, we have no hope!

What happens to the person who cannot reflect God's grace in his or her own relationship with others? The person who gives no second chances lives in direct opposition to God's will. In Matthew 18, Jesus illustrated how we are to be gracious to others, just as God is gracious toward us. The slave who had been given a second chance by his master was impudent in his response to someone who had wronged him, and he allowed no second chance. His lord confronted him: "Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?" Jesus continued, "And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart."

What is the torture that besets the person who will give no second chance? Guilt, perhaps. For he or she knows the attitude is wrong. Defensiveness, because the guilt must be balanced with some kind of logic that justifies the sin. Hardness, maybe, because the inability to trust others creates an insecurity that must be protected. Isolation, probably. For no one is beyond the judgment of someone who gives no second chances.

Why does someone develop a "no second chance" attitude? A person might have been hurt by a loved one and had no way of restoring the relationship because of death or lack of cooperation. A person might fear his or her own inadequacies and be seeking affirmation by finding fault in others. A person might have felt rejected and be unable to give the grace to others because he or she has been denied it by someone else.

If God responded as does the person who give no second chances, the Bible would be full of holes. David would have no influence. Peter would have no ministry, and Israel would be long forgotten. If we refuse to give others second chances, we'll miss the blessing of people like James, John, Martha, and John Mark.

What are the results of an unforgiving spirit? Misery. The inability to be satisfied. Depression. Distance from God. But hope is available, because God IS gracious, and He give second chances even to those who do not. Many revivals have come about as the result of those who have decided to simply lay their attitudes at the foot of the cross.

Rummage Sale of the Heart

I decided to have a rummage sale one day, so I went into the attic of my heart to shuffle through so many items I had forgotten: broken dreams and broken promises that I had stored away in pain with hopes of mending them some day; antique habits that I had clung to simply because they had been in my life for a long time; dusty grudges that I had harbored in the dark attic corners of my heart, unwilling to give them up. The broken items were useless unless someone fixed them, but I thought that someone who liked to do that kind of thing might want them. I thought I would also get rid of the old habits if anyone would take them off my hands, but I knew I could easily keep them if they didn't go. The old dusty grudges would be like new if I cleaned them up a bit, but I hoped to get rid of them because I had never really liked them anyway.

I then went to clean out my heart's closets. In one I found forgotten commitments; I had made them long ago with good intentions, and someone might want them now. In another closet I found unused talents that were a little rusty, and I wondered whether they were of any worth. Here and there were unforgiven sins that amounted to quite a number that were cluttering my heart. I knew I needed to get rid of them.

I gathered everything together and organized them on tables in the sunlight of my heart's front yard, and I was amazed to see how ugly many things actually were, while others still had a little sparkle there in the light. I put up my sign down at the road, and soon a man named Jesus came by.

He looked my tables over, examining each item, then He picked up the broken pieces and mended them there before my eyes. He gave me a special solution called Grace that helped me renew my forgotten commitments, and He showed me how those rusty talents could still be used. Then He surprised me by paying a very high price for the things I was most ashamed to have displayed. Instead of carting off His purchases, He helped me bag up and get rid of the ones like my old grudges and habits. And then He left without taking anything with Him. I noticed my pile of sins on the grass. He had paid for them and then forgotten them.

"Hide they face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit withing me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore until me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit." Psalms 51:9-12