Even If i Walk Alone

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

passion

What Does Success Look Like?

by

We live in a culture that is dominated by a success mindset. Advertisers attempt to create one vision of success, friends and family another, and some combination of the two usually takes root within our minds. We spend our lives trying to become successful, whatever that may look like. Generally people answer that being successful means having plenty of money, a big house and nice cars. The more esoteric among us might say that success is happiness and a healthy family. What does success look like to you?

Asking for the definition of success in the Western World and then again in the so-called developing world will yield starkly different answers. Whereas more than half of the world lives in abject poverty, those of us fortunate enough to be born in the West generally have never known true hunger. Most have not gone through even a 24 hour period without access to food of some kind or another. I find it very curious that in all the reading I’ve done, I have never once seen someone in the West define success as having food for the day. Pose this question to someone living in a refugee camp in Darfur, and I assure you that food will be part of their answer to what success looks like for them. Survival would be another part of their answer. Each day for people in their circumstances is a true battle just to live. This is reality, not some cliché statement intended to evoke a response. Whether we choose to care or not, millions die every single day from AIDS, malnutrition and ethnic violence. How often do we remember those facts? More often than not, uncomfortable statements such as these impact us when we read them, but they are quickly pushed out of our consciousness and we hasten to move on to more palatable fare.

What should success look like for those who are followers of Christ? I submit that to be successful we must be making a meaningful impact on the world in the name of Jesus. We don’t have to impact masses of people, but we should be impacting someone. Each one of us has the ability to demonstrate the love of God to another person. We have a fairly short list to help us determine if we are heading for success. Are we feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, caring for the orphans, the widows, the single mothers and people in need? Are we nursing the sick, clothing the naked and providing water for the thirsty? Are we so madly, passionately in love with God that we love Him with our entire being, and do we love others with that same love?

We have piled on so many unnecessary and worthless things onto what our definition of success should be. In truth, success for a follower of Jesus is so basic and so simple. We need to take a step back and strip away everything we are allowing to define what we believe success to be. We need to return to the simplicity of Jesus and His message. He didn’t deliver a complicated message or require a burdensome amount of action from us. When we are doing the work mentioned above, it often does not even feel like work at all. We are carrying out the mission of Jesus; we are being who we were created to be. There is no more peaceful place to be than resting in the comfort of God’s will.

How do you define success? Do you have the standard Western definition? Perhaps you even hold to the definition that someone in less fortunate parts of the world would subscribe to. Ultimately, you will never find success until you define it the way Jesus did. Until we fall deeply in love with Him and are carrying out His mission, we will never be successful. Success means living your life fully surrendered to Christ and sharing His love and mission with everyone you encounter. This is the only definition that matters; this is what it means to be successful.

Intensity

by

Each of us has a finite amount of time in which to live our lives; this is a given. As followers of Jesus, this should be a cause for rejoicing. We get the privilege of serving Him in this life to be followed by the far greater joy of serving Him throughout eternity once our time in the physical realm is over. However, we are not to simply wait around for this life to end. We mustn’t disregard the privilege of service on this earth in anticipation of the joy of seeing Him. There is a reason we were created as physical beings; that reason is to serve and glorify God as His loving creation. There is no higher call, nor any larger responsibility. It is up to you and me to bring the reality of God’s kingdom into the world in which we live. It is a massive assignment, one that is made even more so by the realization that we have an extremely limited amount of time with which to work. How can we possibly hope to carry out the mission of Jesus?

The answer is intensity. We will need to be fully surrendered to God in every area of our life. Each and every moment will need to be lived as one of total commitment to Him. Taking our eyes off of Jesus for even a moment will jeopardize our mission. This race requires laser like focus and unwillingness to compromise. Loving Jesus, serving Him, living for Him must so permeate our lives that we can think of doing nothing else. This is serving with intensity; this is what it looks like to live out loud for Jesus, to be a true follower of Christ. We must breathe Him in with every single beat of our heart. We must move toward Him with every step that we take. There is no time for seeking self-centered activities. When we work, we must work for Him. When we seek pleasure, we must find it in Him. When we rest, we must rest in Him.

Living with that kind of intensity can appear to be exhausting and perhaps not even possible. If that is your opinion then might I suggest that you are forgetting that God surrounds you at all times; He is present and surrounding you at this very moment. His Spirit weaves in, through and all around you. You have the power of God at your fingertips; it waits simply to be exercised by you. We limit God so frequently that I think we have forgotten how powerful He truly is and that all of that power is available for us to bring to bear on any circumstance. It is He who gives us the power to live; it is He who sustains us. He gives us breath, so breathe Him in. He causes our heart to beat so move in rhythm with Him. He has created and gifted us to accomplish His work on earth. He has sent us out to be His witnesses into the entire world. We have been equipped with everything we need, and we have no excuse to not make use of those blessings in a way that shines the love of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

Embrace the power of God. Seize all that He has given to you. Our time is short, but our mission is clear. Be the hands and feet of Jesus. Care for the poor, the sick and the hungry. Serve the orphans, the widows, and the elderly. Love everyone; serve everyone. Never turn away from someone in need. Walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Live with intensity.

The River

by

Rivers can be beautiful things. They can be peaceful and calmly flowing or they can rage in a terrifying and uncontrollable manner. The Spirit of God is often compared with water; if the Spirit is within you, flooding you with a river of God’s grace, what type of river are you showing the world? I believe we must master elements of both the peaceful and rushing waters so that we can most appropriately pour the Spirit of God into the lives of others. We must be sensitive to the needs around us, and securely plugged into the overflowing and living water of Jesus to effectively minister to those in need.

When people encounter us they should feel a sense of peace, much like they would when sitting on the banks of a gently flowing river on a cool day. There should be a serenity about us that is immediately transferrable to those who are near. As followers of Jesus, we know exactly who we are and are intimately familiar with our mission. We don’t need to be concerned with finding our purpose in life, because we already know it. We don’t have to be concerned with the direction our life will flow, because we already know that as well. Armed with that knowledge, we can be confident in any situation. Confidence is calming not only for ourselves but for those around us as well. In addition to confidence, we should exude a sense of peace. We follow the One who is called the Prince of Peace; as a result, we should have a great internal peace that we can share with others.

Our love for others must also flow much like a raging river. Love should rush uncontrollably from us into everyone with whom we have contact. No one should be able to stand next to us without being swept away by love. I imagine this is what it was like to stand next to Jesus. When people meet us, they should sense something different and be overwhelmed by our genuine love for them. I know this may sound strange at first. How does one show love to a total stranger? It’s easier than you might think. Picture that person as if Jesus was standing right next to them. Treat them as if you have no other place to be and that you have all the time in the world to talk to them. Genuinely listen to everything they have to say. Don’t simply hear them, really listen and respond in a way that lets them know you understand what they are saying.

Much like a river, we have the capacity to flow both gently and to rage uncontrollably. Both of these aspects of a river, and of the Spirit, should reside within us; they are the hallmarks of a Christian. There will be times when the love of God so overwhelms us that we cannot help but burst with the energy of a rushing river. At other times we may be so consumed with peace that we are as tranquil as a babbling brook. We are responsible to transfer both of these states to those among us who are in need. Some will need to have the love of Jesus violently wash over them, cleansing them, and renewing them; let the Spirit rush out of you and into their lives. Others though can bear no more and simply need God’s peace to soothe them; gently breathe the Spirit within you into their lives.

Do you have the capacity to rage uncontrollably with the love of God, while at other times to gently speak peace into the life of another? The Spirit of God provides us with the power of both peace and force. We must learn how to use His power and to discern the proper usage given the situation we are in. With work and practice, we can learn to fully utilize the power He has entrusted to us. As the old song says, it’s great to have “peace like a river”; just don’t forget to also cut loose and rage like a roaring, turbulent river. To be most effective, we must master the dichotomy of a forceful peace. This is the essence of God; He is an unrelenting, ever flowing, river of love.

Apathy

by

I am a driven, goal-oriented person. Generally I spend Saturday evenings planning the week ahead. This week, after a particularly successful week, I decided to review the past week in a very different way. Instead of measuring how much I accomplished or how successful I was in advancing my goals, I reflected on exactly how much I accomplished for God and how successful I was in pursuing His goals. The results were not nearly as good as I would have hoped or expected of myself.

[Read more…] about Apathy

Songs of Life

by

Music has always been a huge part of my life. I’ve been playing drums and writing songs for most of my life, my family is full of musicians and the radio has long been a staple of my daily diet. Almost every event in my life has its own soundtrack, and hearing almost any song can immediately transport me back to what was going on in my life when that particular song was popular. Music can inspire, convict and, yes, even depress us. While my musical preferences run the gamut of genres, a well written song in any style always resonates with me. Music has the unique ability to amplify whatever emotion you may be feeling, so I highly encourage its use during times of prayer and Bible study. It is truly a universal language and is useful in bridging both generational and ethnic barriers.

Over the past year, two songs have captured my imagination and spoken loudly to my heart. The first is by one of my very favorite bands, The Aaron Pelsue Band. Take a look at the lyrics Aaron wrote for the track, “Your Name is the Only Name that Saves”:

“I want to sing a song of hope
 I want to sing a song of joy
 I want to show the world the love of Jesus

I want to sing a song of grace
 I want to sing a song of change
 I want to shake the world with the name of Jesus”

If this isn’t a perfect prayer for the life of a Christ follower, I don’t know what is. We have the greatest hope in the entire universe, the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ. We must live a life that is full of hope both in our own lives and in what we share with others. Our lives should bleed joy. Jesus died for us, loves us, and beckons us to go wherever He goes. Have you pondered the awesomeness of this lately? Jesus chose us; He desires us, He wants us! What problems in anyone’s life can possibly be significant in light of that? As followers of Jesus we should naturally exude such joy and love that the world cannot help but notice, and we cannot help but share. One very radical way to show love to someone is by extending grace to them. We demonstrate grace by building others up, loving them, forgiving them, and encouraging them (Ephesians 4:29, 31-32). If we would live our lives in this manner we would change the world for someone around us, and then another, and another. The last line in the chorus is my favorite line in the song, “I want to shake the world with the name of Jesus”. I don’t want to simply tell someone about Jesus; I don’t want to just write, or preach or teach others about Him. I want to be so bold that I shake the entire world with the good news and love of God. This drives everything that I do.

The second song that has struck a chord (pardon the pun) with me of late is Matthew West’s, “The Motions”. Here are the lyrics to the chorus of that song:

“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?”

It is one of the most convicting and motivating songs I have heard in a long while. I want to move with purpose in everything that I do. I want to always move forward in service for His kingdom. Nothing disturbs me more than a lack of positive activity. What I mean by that is that I feel we should always be doing something that makes a difference for the kingdom of God. We should never be busy for the sake of being busy, but rather for the sake of Jesus. When my days on this earth come to an end, I want to know that I gave all I had to serving Jesus. I want to leave nothing undone, no regrets, and I want my potential to have been fully used. I don’t want to coast in neutral for the sake of my King; I want the top down with the pedal to the floor as I continue the pursuit of His mission.

These two songs are examples of what I would call “songs of life”. They help define me, encourage me, and motivate me. I encourage you to check them out when you have a chance. Do you fill your mind with positive messages that will impact the world for Jesus? If music isn’t your thing, how about the books you read or things you watch? Do they inspire you to new heights, or do they encourage a life of complacency and inaction? Don’t live your life simply going through the motions. Join me in my quest to shake the world with the love of Jesus.