How can I serve God best today? It’s a question each of us should ask at the beginning of each day. The way we frame our days determines how we live our lives. If we wait for life to just happen to us, we will constantly be in a reactionary mode, and this is not the optimal way to live. Reacting results in circumstances dictating our own actions. A better way to live is to proactively and intentionally influence what circumstances will actually occur in our life. Remember the old saying that the best defense is a good offense? That sports analogy works well in life. We want to make our lives happen rather than wait for things to happen to us. As followers of Jesus, the absolute best way we can do this is to determine ahead of time how we will impact our world for Christ each day.
purpose
The Only Name that Matters to Me
My wife is a big fan of the band Big Daddy Weave. While they’re not exactly my cup of tea, as a writer I love a great lyric, and their song “The Only Name” certainly qualifies as that. The song begins with the following words:
“Yours will be/The only name that matters to me/ The Only One Whose favor I seek/The only name that matters to me“
The song is a huge hit, and thousands upon thousands of people are singing it all over the world. While attending a different concert recently, I looked out over the huge crowd of Christians gathered together singing in one voice. I thought of the Big Daddy Weave lyric and wondered, what if we all actually meant the words of that song?
Living for the Emergency
The wisdom of A.W. Tozer never ceases to astound me. Let me share some words of his I recently read: “Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will be judged not by how much I have done, but by how much I could have done! In God’s sight, my giving is measured not by how much I have given, but by how much I had left after I made my gift.” He goes on to say that “[Jesus] sacrificed many pure enjoyments to give Himself to the holy work of moral rescue. His conduct was determined not by what was legitimate or innocent, but by our human need. He pleased not Himself but lived for the emergency; and as He was so are we in this world!” (“Renewed Day by Day Volume 1”, 2/19)
The Voices in Your Head
The spiritual battle that wages around us is often played out through the voices in our head. Every day we face a constant barrage of nonstop conversation within our own mind and it can be hard to discern which voice to listen to and which one we should disregard. How do we know when its God speaking to us, when it’s the devil, and when it is simply our own thoughts? The constant tension between the voices is a source of great consternation for most of us. Fortunately, it’s a lot simpler than you think to sort out who’s got the microphone at any given moment.
Crash
There will be times in our walk where everything seems to be going well. Our ministry (personal or professional) is humming along smoothly and we are content and satisfied with our growth. Another word for content and satisfied would be comfortable. The problem is that I believe comfortable Christianity is an oxymoron. As soon as we get comfortable in our faith, that’s the time we will find ourselves tested. Our greatest tribulations often come on the heels of our greatest triumphs. Just when it looks like we have everything figured out, all the rules suddenly change and we find ourselves with more questions than answers, flailing in our faith, and desperately crying out to God.