Paths to Dwell In

By Cyndi

How do we Christians come across to the world around us? What do our friends, family, and co-workers think about our Christianity? Do we display the attributes of Christ in our daily lives? I was challenged by these questions just the other day and wondered how I appear to the people I meet every day.

Last week I was having a conversation with a friend and afterwards I realized that I dominated the conversation. It was all about me. What pride! Oh, I asked about how she was doing but I wasn’t really listening. I was waiting to share some more things about me the minute she stopped talking. And then when I got caught in traffic driving to another part of town, I was extremely impatient and furious with all the incompetent drivers I was around. “If they could all just drive like me it would be so much better,” I thought. Yes, dear reader, sometimes my Christianity is quite hard and harsh. It’s not always a pretty sight.

So I picked up Andrew Murray’s Humility book and decided it was time to re-read it again. (I think this is one of those books you need to read at least once a year—at least I need to.) I found this particular line quite interesting:

In striving after the higher experiences of the Christian life, the believer is often in danger of aiming at and rejoicing in what one might call the human, the manly, virtues, such as boldness, joy, contempt of the world, zeal, self-sacrifice, while the deeper and gentler, the diviner and more heavenly graces, poverty of spirit, meekness, humility, lowliness, are scarcely thought of or valued (pg. 56).

So I can take the “onward Christian soldiers” approach, plowing through everything and everyone who gets in my way of living for God, or I can attempt to live by the “more heavenly graces,” as Murray says. If I were humble, I would carefully listen to my friend share about how she was doing—her challenges, her delights—so that I could pray for her or rejoice with her as Rom. 12:15 instructs me to do. If I were meek and lowly, I would not stress out in traffic, or get angry and judge the inapt drivers, but be patient and kind instead—-preferring others (Rom. 12:10).

I have repented for my rude behavior of the past and am trying to focus on the sensitive side of Christianity. Yes, I still think there is a place for the harder, stronger virtues of fasting, fearless preaching, and warring in the Spirit, but maybe our world needs to see more of the softer, gentler, loving and forgiving attributes of us Christians.

Closed Theological System

One of my main mentors was Jack Frost. When I first came to work with him I had a somewhat closed theological system. I had a set of fixed ideas about God and doctrine and I was not that open to anything that went outside my box. Jack was very different.

Teachable and Diligent

He was first of all teachable. There were certain key books God used in his life that he had read fifteen times or more. Not only was he open to new ideas, he understood what it took to really get a hold of them and incorporate them to where he lived on a daily basis. We give this kind of effort in school to learn new material. A given class might include lectures, a textbook, several other books to read, and a research paper. However, now that we are older, we seem to have the idea that we can read one book just one time and it will change our lives forever.

Willing to Try

The next thing I noticed about Jack was that he was not afraid to try. He would at times make adjustments to his teaching, not always having it perfect from the start, however, the important thing was that he was willing to consider new thoughts and open to try them.

A Personal Example                                                                                                                                                  

About a year ago I found myself really stuck in my walk with the Lord. I heard a minister I respected mention that God has taught the church many things about deliverance and generational sin and some of it actually works. That struck right at one of my theological boxes. Because of ways I have considered the deliverance movement “out of balance,” I had thrown the whole thing out. A short time later I had an opportunity to be ministered to by this same man, and he recommended some deliverance and generational sin stuff I could pray through. I was desperate enough to try it. Guess what? It worked, I found whole new areas of freedom in my life. In the type of prayer ministry that I do, these are still not the primary tools I use, but I have a whole lot more respect for them than I used to.

With a closed theological system there is little possibility for growth.  Meekness really is the passkey.

By Robert

What would your life be like if you never procrastinated? What could you accomplish if you had the ability to step out and try anything you wanted? There are reasons people get stuck in ruts. Most of us have gone down the “try harder” route so many times we have lost hope. However, it is possible to find the motivation to pursue your dreams. The following quote illustrates this well.

“A manager loses his cool and berates an employee in front of the rest of the team. He thinks his tirade was good for productivity because the rant ’scared people straight,’ but their fear soon settles into caution. To perform at their best, the team members need to take risks, stretch themselves beyond their comfort zone, and even make some mistakes along the way. No one on the team wants to be the manager’s next target, so the team members play it safe and do only as they are told. When the manager gets docked a year later for leading a team that fails to take initiative, he wonders what’s wrong with the team” (Bradberry, Greaves, p.66 Emotional Intelligence 2.0).

Taking initiative involves risk. The only way a person can do this is if they feel safe. Often our parents first taught us that we live in a safe or unsafe environment. We learn early if we are free to take initiative even though we might fail.

Fear of failure is rooted here. In shame-based family rule systems, you are never to be out of control and never to be vulnerable. Somebody might get hurt. The answer to being more intentional in your life is not in trying harder. It is in dealing with the roots in your family system that creates the problem.

If this article is speaking to you, call us today for a phone appointment. We see people get free from these kinds of issues every day. (904.270.9472)

By Robert

Today’s article is taken from the best selling business book, “Good to Great.” It may challenge your thinking and theology. However, I believe there is a huge key here to what keeps people from fulfilling their destinies.

Good to Great Quote

“The ‘leadership is the answer to everything’ perspective is the modern equivalent of the ‘God is the answer to everything’ perspective that held back our scientific understanding of the physical world in the Dark Ages. In the 1500s, people ascribed all events they did not understand to God. With the Enlightenment, we began the search for understanding – physics, chemistry, biology, and so forth. Similarly, every time we attribute everything to leadership, we are admitting our ignorance. Not that we should become leadership atheists (leadership does matter), but every time we throw our hands up in frustration – reverting back to, “Well, the answer must be leadership!” – we prevent ourselves from gaining deeper, more scientific understanding about what makes great companies tick.”

Hyper-Spirituality

It is so easy to be hyper-spiritual. We have some sort of problem and we make comments like, “God will just have to give me His grace here,” or “God will just have to do a miracle.” It is not that there is not some truth to these statements, but what about stewardship or personal responsibility? Think of it this way. Your teenage son is going to mow the lawn as he has done many times before and the mower won’t start. He responds, “Dad, fix it.” This is not much different than, “God will just have to come through (and fix whatever problem).” At some point, we expect our teen to take a little personal responsibility, be a little proactive and problem solve. Did he check and see if there’s gas, is the switch on, does it smell flooded?

Depravity versus Treasure

We have this idea, based on a Calvinistic man’s a worm theology that says, “I can do nothing,” “in me is no good thing,” “it is only by God’s grace,” “that unless God comes through we are helpless.” God has invested in most of us many skills, understanding, faith and experiences. At some point He expects us to step up and do some problem solving, use our faith, apply some prayer, and look for some scriptural principles to apply. The depravity of man is a real doctrine, however, it is also true that God invests His treasure in us and He expects a return on His investment.

I sit here in my living room between a brightly lit up Christmas tree and a lawn mower. Yes, there is a lawn mower in my living room, as well as a weed eater, gas cans, miscellaneous hand tools, and an empty propane container. Why, oh why, you ask, is this stuff in my living room? Well, it is like this: we are in the process of painting the house. This necessitated pressure washing, which led to the discovery of rotten wood on the porch, and then the exposure of a plethora of termites. This, in turn, caused the porch to be torn down, which led to the lawn mower and other items from the porch coming into my living room.

Isn’t it interesting that we can start out with one plan and it gets drastically changed to another in a matter of moments? Just think of Mary and Joseph. I would presume the original plan was to go Bethlehem, take the census, visit some friends and family, and then return home. Having their baby boy born in a smelly stable was probably not on that script, yet it happened. Imagine Mary’s thoughts-God had done so many supernatural things from angelicvisitations, the prophecy from Elisabeth, and supernatural conception, and yet He did not provide a room for her in Bethlehem. But she continued to trust. Things sometimes just don’t work out as we plan.

Many times we get frustrated, angry, even depressed when our plans go awry, but God knows the end of a thing before the beginning (Isa.48:5). Mary and Joseph had no idea of the unforeseen ramifications from the birth of their son, the shepherds coming, or any of the other unusual events that later took place. We too, have no idea what the future holds or the understanding of the reasons why we are forced to experience certain things in our lives.  However, Father God does, and He uses all things for our good (Rom. 8:28) to shape us into the person that can fulfill the unique calling and destiny He has for each one of us.

So “Merry Christmas to all,” I say, as I sit back and enjoy my cup of tea, relishing the smells of pine and terra firma. Whatever God has in store for you this season, it is going to be good-unexpected maybe, but good.

By Cyndi

Last week we had a wonderful night of worship. We sang some encouraging songs and some uplifting prophetic words came forth. In the midst of it God was speaking to me and I kept hearing the verse that says He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Then I heard, “You have everything in your toolbox.” My toolbox? What is that supposed to mean?

In a flash the Holy Spirit revealed to me a picture of a toolbox behind me with everything I needed. It is like this: if I come upon something that needs to be cut, I get a saw out of my toolbox. If I have a plumbing problem, I pull out the wrenches and PVC pipes that I need. Other problems might just need to be hammered down or screwed in tight with the appropriate apparatus. Now, of course, I am not referring to actual problems in the natural, but in the spiritual realm.

In the days that we are living in, we are all facing challenges from many directions, but what the Lord was encouraging me with is the fact that we already have all that we need to face them. We already have every “tool” necessary to overcome, He has given them to us—His divine power has given them to us, the verse says. It is our job to unpack them, to open up our toolboxes and take them out. This may take some discernment as we do not want to bring a sledgehammer to work on a computer virus; or a needle and thread for cutting a tree down. But this is our part, taking the time to listen and find out what resource we need to accomplish the task and get the job done.

These tools may be used as weapons against the enemy, or ways we can stay encouraged, or even ways we can find a solution to the problem—look for a strategy and find a gadget tool for it. In addition, do not forget that the Word is one of the best devices we have. Jesus says in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” It is no surprise that we have troubles. However, He has given us everything we need to overcome. Therefore, open up your toolbox and see what you have.