Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

passion

Rolling in the Deep

by

Life can be rather shallow. We are consumed with the latest electronic gadgetry, bigger houses, and nicer cars. Being seen in the right clothes or the right shoes can make or break our entire day. Image is everything, and we spend a great deal of time and money to make certain the person we present is the one we want others to see as opposed to who we truly are.

Rolling In the Deep

Our conversations lean to the superficial, and are often confined to 140 characters or less. There is a serious lack of depth to many of our lives. Is it any wonder that we struggle to comprehend the depth of a Holy God? [Read more…] about Rolling in the Deep

Lest I Forget

by

On her 2005 album, “If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something”, Rebecca St. James wrote a beautiful song entitled “Lest I Forget”. The song’s melody is at once haunting and peaceful. I have often used the song to enter into a state of contemplative worship. The words are both simple and powerful.

I sit in silence here
I’m filled with wonder once again
I’m overwhelmed by Your beautiful love
Now I, I’m falling to my knees, so grateful for the grace You give
The love I need I’ve found in you

I recently wrote about finding some time to just sit in silence (see “Taking Time to Breathe”). This is such an important discipline, to shut out all distractions and focus solely on the Lord. When was the last time you simply marveled at the wonder of God? The Creator of the universe has chosen to collaborate in writing the history of the world with the likes of you and me. He has redeemed us from the life we deserve and instead has promised us eternal life in Him. We consistently rebel against Him, fall repeatedly into the same temptations and yet He is always eager to welcome us back into His arms. No other love on earth can match the amazing love our Father has for us. Take some time to think on His wonder, His love, and His glory. I guarantee it will drive you to your knees in awe. God has provided everything we will ever need in the person of Jesus Christ.

Lord, You wept tears of blood for me
You hung in agony so deep
Carried my sin away for good

It is a newer tradition in my household to watch the movie, “The Passion of the Christ” on Good Friday each year. Put aside the controversy that surrounded the film and more recently its producer, and concentrate on the depiction of suffering that Christ endured for us. It is so difficult to watch. Who would do such a thing for the life of someone not yet even born? Jesus would have known that I might spend my whole life rebelling against Him, yet He chose to sacrifice His life for mine, just for the chance that I could one day experience His love. He wept tears in my place and withstood torture that I can scarcely imagine. He did this so I might live. His only motivation was a love so outrageous that I will never fully comprehend it.

Lest I forget
All of your goodness
The blood you have shed
The cross I now remember
Lest I forget

I don’t ever want to take for granted what He did for me. I never want to lose the wonder of His love and mercy, and I refuse to overlook the price He paid. Our busy world affords us little opportunity to slow down and ponder the majesty of God. It is important to the health of our soul and our relationship with Christ that we do so. In all of our hurry we must take some time to get alone with Him and reflect on His glory and remember exactly what He went through on our behalf. It’s not a feel good story that is often articulated from our pulpits. There are far easier passages of Scripture on which to meditate and study. Without the reality of the cross though, nothing else would matter. Everything hinges on the sacrifice of Jesus for an undeserving world. We must always keep His life and death at the forefront of our minds. I could never repay what He has done for me. All I can do is obey Him and follow the instructions He gave. Nothing I can do will ever be enough to return the love He lavished on me. He died for me, so I am compelled to live for Him. I will always vividly remember the cross… lest I forget.

 

 

The Music of Your Life

by

Music has always played a significant role in our society, and it has long impacted my own life. Lyrics can lift you up or bring you low; differing chords and notes can cause your mind to soar or your eyes to weep. The simple notes of a piano can invade your deepest thoughts, while the soaring wail of a guitar can pierce your soul. Beyond the strains of melody, the lyrical message of a song can move you to action or trap you in despair. Perhaps nothing has a greater influence on our mood than a song we hear on the radio or find playing in our head.

One of the most revered songwriters of the past forty years or so was John Lennon. Many people took his words almost as a gospel for their lives. Sadly, too many of us can relate to the lyrics of his 1981 song, “Watching the Wheels”. Take a look at a few lines:

“People say I’m lazy dreaming my life away”

“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll”

“I tell them there’s no hurry
I’m just sitting here doing time”

When I was younger, I remember relishing the words of this song. They seemed to depict such an easy going life, one without cares or worry. For followers of Jesus, however, these words are poison. They speak of a lackadaisical life, a life focused on ease and comfort. While I’m certain there are times in each of our lives when we just want to stop all the motion around us and play spectator for awhile, this is not an option if we are seriously committed to carrying out the mission of Christ. Contrast Lennon’s words with those of a more recent talented songwriter, Matthew West:

“I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions”

This should be the cry of every heart that loves Jesus. We should never be content with sitting still and “watching the world go by”. Jesus called us to be people of action. His first word of what has come to be known as the great commission was, “Go”. Jesus never commanded His followers to sit still and do nothing. He commanded them to be busy doing the same work that they had seen Him doing. We are not called to be assimilated into the culture of our day; we are called to be different and to reflect the love of Christ to a dark and bitter world. We have all been created with different gifts and passions so that we might share the message of Jesus with everyone we encounter. If we are content to simply go through the motions, we will never experience the power of God in our lives and the world will be deprived of the song we have been given to sing.

Recently I have been very moved by the lyrics of another young songwriter named Josh Wilson. Here are some words from his song, “I Refuse”:

“I don’t want to live like I don’t care.
I don’t want to say another empty prayer.
Oh, I refuse to
Sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself.
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse.”

I want those words to be the prayer of my life. I never want to take a pass on the things God has given me to do. As followers of Jesus we should always seek to be proactive in carrying out the mission of Christ. We already have our marching orders, it is our duty to carry them out and follow through.

What will be the song of your life? Will you be content to simply watch the world pass by in front of your eyes or will you refuse to leave the work to someone else and throw yourself into the great adventure of following Jesus? At the end of your life will you stand before God with the music of His love bursting from deep within or will you, in the words of Emerson, die with the music still in you? We all must choose to live life either as a passive spectator or an active participant being the hands and feet of Jesus. The choice is simple, the implementation is not. Don’t be content with going through the motions and simply watching the wheels go ‘round and ‘round; refuse to be idle and wait for someone else to do what God has given you to do. Share the song He has given you while there is still time to let your life sing. May the love of Jesus resonate loudly from deep within your soul; let this be the music of your life.

Finding Your Purpose

by

One of the most common causes of consternation among Christians is trying to determine God’s will for their life. We’ve discussed this previously, but I was recently struck with a different take on the subject. Countless books and articles have tackled this subject, but I believe they have come at if from the wrong angle. Recently I’ve been reading Erwin McManus’ “Chasing Daylight” again, and it provided the framework for my thinking. The first thing that we need to recognize is that God doesn’t have some massive blueprint for each of our lives. Believing that God has every twist and turn in your life mapped out for you eliminates the Biblical concept of freewill. For an excellent discussion on this, I recommend “Decision Making and the Will of God” by Garry Friesen or “Divine Foreknowledge: Four Views” by Greg Boyd, William Lane Craig, Paul Eddy and James Beilby. With this as our starting point, I believe there are three steps to finding your purpose. Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What are my passions? Remember when you were younger and had visions of grandeur? We all dreamed dreams that were far bigger than ourselves and had goals of someday becoming something of note in this world. In our imaginations, we could be anything we wanted to be. As we grew older we were told that dreams were for children and we needed to focus on what we were really going to do with our lives. It seems to be the mission of those who have failed to live their dreams to quash the dreams of others as well. The passions and dreams we used to feel are what God has instilled in us. Our dreams are what make us unique from everyone else. Each of us was created for a purpose, a purpose that God carefully planted inside of us. If time and money was no object, what is it that you would most want to do? In the deepest depths of your heart, what is it that drives you? Make a note of each of your passions.

  • What are my skills? In addition to passions, God has given each of us a set of skills and gifts to be used for His Glory. People with low self esteem often disregard this question, assuming they are not good at anything and therefore have no skills. The fact is, we are indeed all gifted, we simply have not taken the time to reflect and discover all that we have to offer. Some are leaders, teachers, care-givers, good listeners, handy, a good cook or have a knack for dealing with certain age groups; the list could go on and on. Spiritual gifts and personal skills are very closely related. If you are aware of your spiritual gifts, I would encourage you to make a list of all the skills associated with that particular set of gifts. If you aren’t certain what your spiritual gifts are, there are several resources (many are free) available to help you discover your gifts. Email me at [email protected] if you would like a list.

  • Finally, ask how you can use your passions and your skills to best allow you to fulfill God’s will. Instead of asking what His will is for our life, we need to be asking how we can use our lives to accomplish His will. We know what His will is; He wills that none would perish, that none would go hungry or be treated unjustly. This is the will of God; He longs for unity and justice among all people. He commands us to love Him with all of our heart, soul and mind. He commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves, to treat them as we wish to be treated (Matthew 22:35-38). His mission for all who would follow Him is to tell everyone about His love and to demonstrate that love through our own lives. Looking back over your passions and skills, how might you utilize those to tell others about Christ or demonstrate His love to them? How could you use your passions and gifts to bring peace to a situation or to alleviate injustice or serve the poor? This is what following Jesus is all about; again, it’s not asking what His will is for our life but rather discovering how we can use our life to bring about His will.

Each person’s combination of passions and skills is unique, so it is difficult to give concrete examples in this limited space. I’d love to help anyone who struggles with determining how they can use what they have to fulfill the will of God. Leave a comment below describing your unique blend of dreams and gifts and I’ll respond with some real world ideas of how you might use them for God’s glory. If you prefer privacy, email me at [email protected]. I’d love to help. Knowing the will of God is as simple as living out His Word and reflecting His love to others; we all have been uniquely gifted to do so. Stop stressing over what it is God wants you to do with your life, and start living in the freedom of using your life to accomplish His will.

Developing Zeal

by

Recently I wrote a post on being zealous for God, and a reader asked how one goes about getting this zeal. It’s a great question that I thought would be worth exploring further. Zeal is not something that can be artificially manufactured. It can be fanned into a flame by many sources, but the seed of it is organic and must rise up from within you. For the purpose of our discussion, that seed is a love for Jesus and a desire to serve Him. If we truly want to serve Him above all else, we have the makings of a zealous person. The question then becomes how to fan our innermost desire into a consuming passion that engulfs us in our daily lives. There are many facets to the answer, and certainly the “how” will vary somewhat given each individual personality; I’ve put together some ideas below that have been useful in my own life.

• Get to know the character of God. Nothing develops zeal faster than learning about who God is. Reading the Bible with the intention of getting to know Him and seeing the way He has worked through history allows us to see how truly Awesome and Holy He is. Most of us tend to read the Bible to try and find out how it applies to our own lives. Ultimately, however, the Bible is not a book about us; it’s the story of God and His love for those He created. Like any relationship, if we don’t spend time learning about the other person, we will soon become disinterested. Don’t be content to learn all you know about God from a Sunday morning sermon. Dig in and discover the character of your Creator. Learn what drives Him, what angers Him and what inspires Him. Pray constantly, talking to Him as you would your closest friend. God is not afraid of your questions, your honesty, or your anger. He longs for you to learn more about Him and is a patient teacher. Ask Him to reveal His very essence to you and never stop praying and reading to learn more about who He is.

• Read inspiring material. It cannot be overstated how great an influence reading has on your mind. If we read depressing material, we will find ourselves discouraged even if we have no actual reason to feel that way. If we read books that teach concepts contrary to the teaching of Christ, we will find our minds consumed with those thoughts rather than thoughts of God. It is nearly impossible to be zealous for God if your mind is not consistently and wholly focused on Him. By reading inspiring articles and books, words that are uplifting and point to Jesus, you will find yourself developing a positive attitude; someone with a positive attitude is far more likely to see possibilities. When we begin to dream of what is possible, we become inspired to take action. Taking action is what zeal is all about; we cannot help but move.

• Be intentional with what you allow to influence you. Just as reading has a profound influence on your life, so too does what you listen to, what you watch, and those with whom you associate. Music is powerful and can easily lift one to the heights of worship; on the flip side it can bring you to the depths of despair. We need to guard against anything that leads our thoughts away from God. This isn’t a statement against any particular type of music, but rather just a warning to take notice of how certain songs affect you. The same can be said for television and movies. The windows are the eyes of the soul, so be careful what you feed your innermost being. In our modern age, we are bombarded with images at an unprecedented rate every day. Most of the images are not designed to draw us closer to God, and many of them will do the exact opposite. To be zealous we must keep our hearts and minds clean and focused on Christ. In the same way, those with whom you associate hold great influence over you. We must be intentional in choosing our friends. If we surround ourselves with those who are intent on pursuing what the world has to offer, we will find ourselves carried along for the ride. Instead, choose to associate with those who are seeking God, with people who are passionately pursuing Jesus. Hanging out with zealous people will develop zeal in your own life in a somewhat passive manner because zeal is highly contagious!

• Become active in causes that are close to the heart of God. As you learn more about the character of God, immerse yourself in causes that work towards fulfilling His mission on earth. Jesus said to care for the poor, so get involved with ministries and organizations that work to alleviate hunger and poverty. Since God detests injustice, become an advocate for the oppressed. As you give yourself to become the hands and feet of Jesus, your character will align with God’s. As your heart begins to beat in rhythm with His, you will be consumed with desiring Him more and more. This is where passion is born. This is the seed of zealousness.

The ideas listed above are far from exhaustive, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on developing zeal for God. What have been the turning points in your life, the “a-ha moments” that pushed you deeper in your relationship with Him? It is through the sharing of ideas that we will all grow closer to our Lord. Let me know how these suggestions work for you, and let’s pray for one another that we might all grow in our zeal for the One who gave His life so that we might live. Seek Jesus only and always and you will discover your own passion and zeal for following Him.