I recently saw this tweet by Dominic Russo: “The next generation of Christian leaders are largely invisible right now. They are being prepared in ‘caves’ and ‘dungeons’ like David and Joseph.” There is so much good truth in that statement; And not just pertaining to our future Christian leaders. I believe there is something even deeper to this statement. It seems to me that the large majority of “influencers” for the kingdom experienced some type of desert experience. Even Jesus himself spent 40 days in obscurity and solitude in the desert before His mission was activated. But even beyond that, there are countless others that had to develop their calling in what many would call less than ideal circumstances. David was told he would be king…but then he spent many years hiding in caves. Joseph saw his future, but was then forced into slavery and even prison. If you know …
Author: Paul
Sometimes it is hard to define the gift that God has given us. The gift of His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness. Truly the list goes on and on. Have you ever tried to define it? To put words to it? I appreciate Jesus’ unique way of getting His point across. He always packaged a life impacting lesson into a short story that even the youngest of children could understand. This is one of my favorite short parables: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44 NIV Two simple sentences, but one impactful point. Jesus is drawing a great analogy to what the Kingdom of Heaven is like…which by the way is something we get to experience NOW, not later. We, …
I heard this song recently by Kari Jobe, and just had to find the video to post here. Such a great word in this song. Essentially, I will find you, God, in all things. In my last post, I discussed the “Even If mentality“, and this song seems to just sum it up so nicely. No matter what, I will find God when I surrender and listen to Him. Instead of writing, I am going to let the song speak for itself today: Question: What do you take from this song?
There are so many people in the Bible that take on what I call the “Even If” mentality. And it is those people that I want to model my life after. But there is one story in particular that really seems to sum it all up and it is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel Chapter 3. These three young men took a stand against King Nebuchadnezzar who had recently decided to build an image of gold that he commanded everyone to worship. Just to put things in perspective a bit, that image was said to be 90 feet wide and 90 feet tall of gold (that is roughly a 9 story building). I would imagine this would be quite the impressive sight to see. It also says in Daniel 3 that when the music would play, everyone in the land would bow down to worship this idol …
There is something impressive about big buildings. The great feat of architecture and the amazing end result. It is fun to watch from the beginning when it is just bare dirt and then bit by bit, piece by piece, a great structure is formed. And then, to think about all the various jobs that are involved in making it all happen. Each person has their own task. Their craft or talent. Each one is needed to make the final product. There are some jobs in the process of constructing a building that I personally would rather not participate in. Some of those jobs are just downright hard. Only through sweat, blood and pain are some tasks completed. And then there are others that can’t be fun. Like plumbing for example – I am SO thankful for plumbers…but personally, I don’t know that I can stomach the smell. But each one …
Decisions points are an interesting time in life. We are constantly faced with them. Small decisions, large decisions. Some just impact our day, and others might impact our life as a whole. There are times when the right answer is directly in front of us…but there are also those times when it seems to be just out of reach. No matter the size or weight of the decision, the Word is very clear on the right process for decision making: Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. (Psalm 37:4, 5 NKJV) The promise: He will give you the desires of your heart. The preface: Delight yourself in Him, trust Him, commit your way to Him. I am not going to spend too much space …
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18) This weekend, I caught a new insight into this whole “outward man is perishing” part…I saw my gray hair coming in…I know, silly, but you can ask my wife, this was a big deal for me! Just when I am finally coming to terms with whole hair-loss part of getting older, it is than topped off with new additions of gray. It …
There is something particularly neat about the fact that we serve a God who pursues us. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the omnipotent all-knowing God pursues you. I have heard so many people (Christian and non-Christian) say, “I am searching for God” – almost as though it is some type of hide and seek game with Him – we search for Him, we find Him, and then, all of a sudden, He hides again. So, we begin again “searching” for God. We have it backwards. We treat it as though we are the hunters and He is the hunted. It is entirely the opposite. We are the hunted and He is the Hunter. He is pursuing after us. We are the ones hiding. We are ones running. He is pursuing you. It started early in Genesis with God calling out to Adam in the garden and continues …
One thing I have really enjoyed in my career is interviewing people. I really enjoy sitting down, asking questions and digging into their resume. What always amazes me, is the extent that people will go to to really make themselves sound perfect. Always trying to brush over any sign of weakness. But how quickly that changes when it comes to something God calls us to do. We pull out our weaknesses, our excuses and the “why we are not the right ones” or “why now is not the right time”. We are SO fast on whipping out that list of “why-nots”. Just look at some of the great men of the Old Testament, starting with Moses in Exodus 4:10: Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” And then …
Seeing that the Olympics just finished, I think it is fitting to share this great video I saw awhile back from Francis Chan: Have you ever found yourself clinging to the balance beam of life? Holding on tight…just waiting for things to stabilize? Have you ever caught yourself getting too comfortable…almost to the point where you become complacent in your journey? I know I am guilty of that! I know there have been times where I would rather close my eyes and hold on – just let me know when the shaking is over. However, with that said, I know that is NOT who I want to be. It is NOT who God created you to be. God calls us to live a challenging, exciting, adventure of a life. The adventure is here, now! Why are we so scared to step out and try something new for Him? Isaiah 43: …
