“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Matthew 10:16
It is a temptation for followers of Jesus Christ to drift into naïve living. There can be disengagement with life that becomes irresponsible, but Jesus said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15). It is engagement in the world that gives Christians relational equity with unbelievers. We are called to trust others, but to simultaneously verify their words and actions.
Parents do this with their children when they confirm that their homework assignments are complete. Adolescents have to be reminded to take their backpacks to their bedrooms, and warned not to snack before dinner. Loving moms and dads keep an eye out for their child (sometimes in the back of their heads it seems), as they have one trusting eye of encouragement, and one somewhat skeptical eye of accountability.
"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11).??
The same can be said about your work. If you think everything is ok all the time, you will one day abruptly discover it is not. Wise managers, leaders and associates hunt down bad news and cage it with critical collaboration and solutions. They seek to understand its source and not repeat the same mistake twice. Negative trends can be your friend if they are diagnosed early and dealt with thoroughly. There is a practical paranoia when filtered through prayer that is productive, necessary and responsible.
Furthermore, reward the candor of concerned team members. When they speak up and seem somewhat cynical, their passionate prognosis means they care. Be wise and daily discern the meaning of important data like sales reports and your child’s mid-term report card. Prayerfully and thoughtfully interpret the information, make adjustments by faith, and then carry on in confidence knowing you have done your part. Servants of Jesus are shrewd to discern the times and wise to prayerfully adjust accordingly.
"A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” (Proverbs 22:3).
What opportunity or person am I facing that requires extra discernment and prayer?
Related Readings: Psalm 19:12; 119:125; Proverbs 28:2; Luke 16:1-8
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
9.16.2011
9.14.2011
Child Training
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6
Child discipline and child training are similar, but different. They are similar because the desired outcome for both is a child with a heart for God and love for people. The end goal for each is a Christ-like character. But there are some real differences between the discipline and training of your child. Discipline is more reactive; training is proactive. Discipline many times is a consequence of negative behavior, while training seeks to develop positive behavior. Training educates the child on the “why” behind the “what.”
Discipline is more concerned with the “what.” Training is motivated by teaching the child “how to fish,” not just “giving them a fish.” Discipline in some ways is easier and takes less time. Training is more involved and takes hands-on effort from both parents. Discipline is focused more on the short term, while training looks toward the long term. They both overlap and both are vital to the healthy upbringing of your child.
Ultimately, you are training your child to be a responsible and God-fearing adult. Think of the training as on-the-job. You can tell your child to do something, and they may forget. You can show them how to do it, and they will probably remember. However, when they experience it for themselves in hands-on fashion, there is a much better chance of follow through. This is at the heart of training.
You help your child experience life under your apprenticeship. You are there to teach them, encourage them and mentor them. Yes, they will fail along the way, but you will be there to help pick them up. It takes parental wisdom, because you do not want to rescue them prematurely either. God may be in the process of teaching them a valuable lesson.
Take driving an automobile, for instance. This is freedom for the teenager and fear for the parents. The grown-up child can finally spread his wings in two tons of steel going 55 miles per hour. His peripheral vision is blurred and it’s hard for him to remember the speed limit. In the meantime, the parents’ prayer life is escalating to new levels of intensity along with the price of their insurance premiums.
Learning to drive a car can be a great training time. This can become quality time for the dad and the child. Yes, have the teenager take a defensive driving class, but it is just as important to have them take a daddy driving class. Perhaps you buy them a mechanically sound, used “practice car.” Instruct them in the basics of proper yielding and how much a speeding ticket costs. Let them experience the responsibility of paying for the insurance. This is great training in the realities of life.
Lastly, train them to “stand alone.” Standing alone means they have the confidence in themselves and the trust in God to do the right thing even when their friends don’t. Give them leadership responsibilities around the home like chores, care for animals and planning trips. Teach them how to think. Let the Word of God be their training manual. Reward them for applying its principles. Help them discover their passion and what they do best. Encourage them to follow God’s calling, even when it makes you uncomfortable. Take the time to train your child today and they will be trained for a lifetime. Train well!
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
Child discipline and child training are similar, but different. They are similar because the desired outcome for both is a child with a heart for God and love for people. The end goal for each is a Christ-like character. But there are some real differences between the discipline and training of your child. Discipline is more reactive; training is proactive. Discipline many times is a consequence of negative behavior, while training seeks to develop positive behavior. Training educates the child on the “why” behind the “what.”
Discipline is more concerned with the “what.” Training is motivated by teaching the child “how to fish,” not just “giving them a fish.” Discipline in some ways is easier and takes less time. Training is more involved and takes hands-on effort from both parents. Discipline is focused more on the short term, while training looks toward the long term. They both overlap and both are vital to the healthy upbringing of your child.
Ultimately, you are training your child to be a responsible and God-fearing adult. Think of the training as on-the-job. You can tell your child to do something, and they may forget. You can show them how to do it, and they will probably remember. However, when they experience it for themselves in hands-on fashion, there is a much better chance of follow through. This is at the heart of training.
You help your child experience life under your apprenticeship. You are there to teach them, encourage them and mentor them. Yes, they will fail along the way, but you will be there to help pick them up. It takes parental wisdom, because you do not want to rescue them prematurely either. God may be in the process of teaching them a valuable lesson.
Take driving an automobile, for instance. This is freedom for the teenager and fear for the parents. The grown-up child can finally spread his wings in two tons of steel going 55 miles per hour. His peripheral vision is blurred and it’s hard for him to remember the speed limit. In the meantime, the parents’ prayer life is escalating to new levels of intensity along with the price of their insurance premiums.
Learning to drive a car can be a great training time. This can become quality time for the dad and the child. Yes, have the teenager take a defensive driving class, but it is just as important to have them take a daddy driving class. Perhaps you buy them a mechanically sound, used “practice car.” Instruct them in the basics of proper yielding and how much a speeding ticket costs. Let them experience the responsibility of paying for the insurance. This is great training in the realities of life.
Lastly, train them to “stand alone.” Standing alone means they have the confidence in themselves and the trust in God to do the right thing even when their friends don’t. Give them leadership responsibilities around the home like chores, care for animals and planning trips. Teach them how to think. Let the Word of God be their training manual. Reward them for applying its principles. Help them discover their passion and what they do best. Encourage them to follow God’s calling, even when it makes you uncomfortable. Take the time to train your child today and they will be trained for a lifetime. Train well!
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
Deconstructing Me-First Faith
"In their hearts human beings plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps." Proverbs 16:9 TNIV
IT'S SO EASY to live a life that revolves solely around a single agenda: our own. Everything in the surrounding culture encourages us to create the life that we want, to see the fulfillment of our own goals as the ultimate prize, to stand apart from the crowd by being truly selfish.
Of course, Christianity suggests otherwise. It tells us that meeting our own desires is not the path to godly success. Jesus quotes from the ancients in Deuteronomy and Leviticus when He reminds His audience precisely what we ought to value most: to love God with all of our energy and passion, and to love others as much as ourselves.
Selfless living does not mean placing others on an equal footing with ourselves, handing out the compassion in step with the self-indulgence. True Christianity—to be near the kingdom of God, to understand the very fibers that hold together the essence of Christianity, to put our faith into bold practice—means handing over our own agendas in place of serving God and others. It might not be sexy or culturally on-message, but it’s there, in plain and simple truth.
Make a to-do list for the week. Then cross off or re-prioritize the tasks that are purely selfish or need to be re-focused to better serve God and others?
Source: Relevant Magazine by Craig Borlase
IT'S SO EASY to live a life that revolves solely around a single agenda: our own. Everything in the surrounding culture encourages us to create the life that we want, to see the fulfillment of our own goals as the ultimate prize, to stand apart from the crowd by being truly selfish.
Of course, Christianity suggests otherwise. It tells us that meeting our own desires is not the path to godly success. Jesus quotes from the ancients in Deuteronomy and Leviticus when He reminds His audience precisely what we ought to value most: to love God with all of our energy and passion, and to love others as much as ourselves.
Selfless living does not mean placing others on an equal footing with ourselves, handing out the compassion in step with the self-indulgence. True Christianity—to be near the kingdom of God, to understand the very fibers that hold together the essence of Christianity, to put our faith into bold practice—means handing over our own agendas in place of serving God and others. It might not be sexy or culturally on-message, but it’s there, in plain and simple truth.
Make a to-do list for the week. Then cross off or re-prioritize the tasks that are purely selfish or need to be re-focused to better serve God and others?
Source: Relevant Magazine by Craig Borlase
9.12.2011
A Sustainable Lifestyle
"Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." Psalm 54:4
A lifestyle is sustainable when the Lord is the sustainer. Behind every sustainable life is dependence on a Savior: to help in time of need—to provide calm in a crisis—to give perspective when feeling pressure and to slow down someone who is way to busy. The grace of God gives sustainability to a life paced by prayer and energized by faith in Jesus.
Are you involved in so many good initiatives, only to find yourself unable to keep up with your commitments? Is your pace of life without margin—unable to really invest in those who need you the most? Indeed, it is extremely important to take periodic audits of our pace of life and make sure we make room for real relational investments. A life is unsustainable, if it is always darting from one good deed to the next with no down time.
“Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed” (Psalm 119:116).
Sometimes it takes a restoration of joy in following Jesus to realign our hearts in rest with Him. Joyless living is drudgery and only contributes to fatigue and exhaustion. However, the Lord upholds His own—by His presence and the wisdom of His word. He is ever present to energize a seeking soul with His solace of strength, peace and perseverance.
Like a wilderness hiker without a backpack of supplies and no compass—is a life that wanders around without the sustenance of Scripture and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. A sustainable life has Almighty God as its architect and belief in Jesus as its builder. He sustains those who regularly seek Him with a pure heart and a teachable mind. He helps the humble and lifts up those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
“The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:6).
Are you old? The Lord is your sustainer in your later years. Are you sick? Your Savior Jesus sustains you on your sick bed. Are you an orphan? You are not outcast, but a precious child of your Heavenly Father. Are you a widow or widower? You are not alone, but loved by the Lord. Are you in a new country, away from home? Jesus is trustworthy in your transition. Are you afraid? Christ is a prayer away to provide comfort and care.
Lastly, a sustainable lifestyle happens in community with other followers of Jesus. Faith comes alive when it is exercised in the presence of other people who love the Lord. You feel support, love, compassion, prayers and wisdom from the Body of Christ. The Lord is your help and His people are His helpers. A sustainable lifestyle comes from Christ.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3a).
How can I sustain my lifestyle in the power of the Spirit and not in my own strength?
Related Readings: Job 36:19; Psalm 119:175; 146:9; Isaiah 46:4; 50:4; 59:16
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
A lifestyle is sustainable when the Lord is the sustainer. Behind every sustainable life is dependence on a Savior: to help in time of need—to provide calm in a crisis—to give perspective when feeling pressure and to slow down someone who is way to busy. The grace of God gives sustainability to a life paced by prayer and energized by faith in Jesus.
Are you involved in so many good initiatives, only to find yourself unable to keep up with your commitments? Is your pace of life without margin—unable to really invest in those who need you the most? Indeed, it is extremely important to take periodic audits of our pace of life and make sure we make room for real relational investments. A life is unsustainable, if it is always darting from one good deed to the next with no down time.
“Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed” (Psalm 119:116).
Sometimes it takes a restoration of joy in following Jesus to realign our hearts in rest with Him. Joyless living is drudgery and only contributes to fatigue and exhaustion. However, the Lord upholds His own—by His presence and the wisdom of His word. He is ever present to energize a seeking soul with His solace of strength, peace and perseverance.
Like a wilderness hiker without a backpack of supplies and no compass—is a life that wanders around without the sustenance of Scripture and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. A sustainable life has Almighty God as its architect and belief in Jesus as its builder. He sustains those who regularly seek Him with a pure heart and a teachable mind. He helps the humble and lifts up those who worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
“The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:6).
Are you old? The Lord is your sustainer in your later years. Are you sick? Your Savior Jesus sustains you on your sick bed. Are you an orphan? You are not outcast, but a precious child of your Heavenly Father. Are you a widow or widower? You are not alone, but loved by the Lord. Are you in a new country, away from home? Jesus is trustworthy in your transition. Are you afraid? Christ is a prayer away to provide comfort and care.
Lastly, a sustainable lifestyle happens in community with other followers of Jesus. Faith comes alive when it is exercised in the presence of other people who love the Lord. You feel support, love, compassion, prayers and wisdom from the Body of Christ. The Lord is your help and His people are His helpers. A sustainable lifestyle comes from Christ.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” (Hebrews 1:3a).
How can I sustain my lifestyle in the power of the Spirit and not in my own strength?
Related Readings: Job 36:19; Psalm 119:175; 146:9; Isaiah 46:4; 50:4; 59:16
Source: Wisdom Hunters by Boyd Bailey
The Walking Wounded
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9 TNIV
THERE IS A WEIGHT to the Gospel. There is a mass connected to the story of redemption. It is in the dark places—the addictions to pornography, alcohol, drugs, power and control. It is in our propensity to blame and abuse each other, our greed and our depravity. It is the substance of these things that gives us a place to speak about the slow road to recovery.
When we find the gospel to be true and start to wrestle with the implications, it eventually brings us to a place where we must confront our humanity and know ourselves as both the walking wounded and the perpetually healed.
In our Church culture, there are behavioral codes set in place to give the appearance of victory. There are things that church people cannot talk about or engage in. But these things are, in some fashion, part of every church person's life. There are profound reasons why Jesus still carried the scars from the nails when he appeared to his friends. He was bringing the entire Gospel to his disciples.
Ultimately, it is our redemption, not our perfection, that looks unique. It is the way healing comes, how long it takes and who is involved that makes us different.
What scars enable you to share the entire Gospel with others?
Source: Relevant Magazine by Dan Haseltine
THERE IS A WEIGHT to the Gospel. There is a mass connected to the story of redemption. It is in the dark places—the addictions to pornography, alcohol, drugs, power and control. It is in our propensity to blame and abuse each other, our greed and our depravity. It is the substance of these things that gives us a place to speak about the slow road to recovery.
When we find the gospel to be true and start to wrestle with the implications, it eventually brings us to a place where we must confront our humanity and know ourselves as both the walking wounded and the perpetually healed.
In our Church culture, there are behavioral codes set in place to give the appearance of victory. There are things that church people cannot talk about or engage in. But these things are, in some fashion, part of every church person's life. There are profound reasons why Jesus still carried the scars from the nails when he appeared to his friends. He was bringing the entire Gospel to his disciples.
Ultimately, it is our redemption, not our perfection, that looks unique. It is the way healing comes, how long it takes and who is involved that makes us different.
What scars enable you to share the entire Gospel with others?
Source: Relevant Magazine by Dan Haseltine
9.09.2011
Time to Forgive Our Fathers
Time has come for us to forgive our fathers. Paul warns us that unforgiveness and bitterness can wreck our lives and the lives of others (Eph. 4:31; Heb. 12:15).
I am sorry to think of all the years my wife endured the anger and bitterness that I redirected at her from my father. As someone has said, forgiveness is setting a prisoner free and then discovering the prisoner was you. I found some help in Bly's experience of forgiving his own father, when he said, "I began to think of him not as someone who had deprived me of love or attention or companionship, but as someone who himself had been deprived, by his father and his mother and by the culture." My father had his own wound that no one ever offered to heal. His father was an alcoholic, too, for a time, and there were some hard years for my dad as a young man just as there were for me.
Now you must understand: Forgiveness is a choice. It is not a feeling, but an act of the will. As Neil Anderson has written, "Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving; you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made." We allow God to bring the hurt up from our past, for "if your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your life, it will be incomplete." We acknowledge that it hurt, that it mattered, and we choose to extend forgiveness to our father. This is not saying, "It didn't really matter"; it is not saying, "I probably deserved part of it anyway." Forgiveness says, "It was wrong, it mattered, and I release you."
And then we ask God to father us, and to tell us our true name.
(Wild at Heart , 131-32)
Source: Ransomed Heart Ministries by John Eldredge
I am sorry to think of all the years my wife endured the anger and bitterness that I redirected at her from my father. As someone has said, forgiveness is setting a prisoner free and then discovering the prisoner was you. I found some help in Bly's experience of forgiving his own father, when he said, "I began to think of him not as someone who had deprived me of love or attention or companionship, but as someone who himself had been deprived, by his father and his mother and by the culture." My father had his own wound that no one ever offered to heal. His father was an alcoholic, too, for a time, and there were some hard years for my dad as a young man just as there were for me.
Now you must understand: Forgiveness is a choice. It is not a feeling, but an act of the will. As Neil Anderson has written, "Don't wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving; you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made." We allow God to bring the hurt up from our past, for "if your forgiveness doesn't visit the emotional core of your life, it will be incomplete." We acknowledge that it hurt, that it mattered, and we choose to extend forgiveness to our father. This is not saying, "It didn't really matter"; it is not saying, "I probably deserved part of it anyway." Forgiveness says, "It was wrong, it mattered, and I release you."
And then we ask God to father us, and to tell us our true name.
(Wild at Heart , 131-32)
Source: Ransomed Heart Ministries by John Eldredge
9.01.2011
Rest
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:29,30
If you're working really hard to please God and impress others, consider the passage above. Rather than working yourself toward perfection, receive the gift of Christ and let Him teach you how to carry his yoke and burden. Rather than grinding toward your self-imposed version of living right, your actions will simply be an outpouring of what's going on inside.
Source: The Daily Verse by Kat Davis
If you're working really hard to please God and impress others, consider the passage above. Rather than working yourself toward perfection, receive the gift of Christ and let Him teach you how to carry his yoke and burden. Rather than grinding toward your self-imposed version of living right, your actions will simply be an outpouring of what's going on inside.
Source: The Daily Verse by Kat Davis
A True Father
Jesus kept coming back to this central issue, over and over, driving at it in his teachings, his parables, his penetrating questions. If you look again, through the lens that most of us feel fundamentally fatherless, I think you'll find it very close indeed to the center of Jesus' mission. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?" (Matt. 7:9-10 NIV). Well? We rush ahead to the rest of the passage, but I think Jesus is asking us a real question and he wants a real answer. I expect he paused here, his penetrating, compassionate eyes scanning the listeners before him. Well? I hesitate. I guess you're right. I wouldn't, and apart from the exceptionally wicked man, I can't think of any decent father-even if he is self absorbed-who would do such a thing. Jesus continues, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (v. 11 NIV).
He is trying to speak to our deepest doubt about the universe.
Look at the birds of the air. Consider the lilies in the field. Are you not much more valuable to your true Father than they? (Matt 6:26, 28). Hmmm. I'm not sure how to answer. I mean, of course, there's the "right" answer. And then there is the wound in our hearts toward fatherhood, and there is also the way our lives have gone. "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?" (Matt. 18:12 NIV). Yet another question, pressing into the submerged fears in our hearts, another question wanting another answer. Well? Wouldn't he? "And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (vv. 13-14 NIV).
Wherever you are in your ability to believe it at this moment in your life, at least you can see what Jesus is driving at. You have a good Father. He is better than you thought. He cares. He really does. He's kind and generous. He's out for your best.
(Fathered by God )
Source: Ransomed Heart Ministries by John Eldredge
He is trying to speak to our deepest doubt about the universe.
Look at the birds of the air. Consider the lilies in the field. Are you not much more valuable to your true Father than they? (Matt 6:26, 28). Hmmm. I'm not sure how to answer. I mean, of course, there's the "right" answer. And then there is the wound in our hearts toward fatherhood, and there is also the way our lives have gone. "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?" (Matt. 18:12 NIV). Yet another question, pressing into the submerged fears in our hearts, another question wanting another answer. Well? Wouldn't he? "And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (vv. 13-14 NIV).
Wherever you are in your ability to believe it at this moment in your life, at least you can see what Jesus is driving at. You have a good Father. He is better than you thought. He cares. He really does. He's kind and generous. He's out for your best.
(Fathered by God )
Source: Ransomed Heart Ministries by John Eldredge
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