If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (Jn 15:7-8)

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (Jn.17:1-5).

Both of the above quotes come from the gospel of John as Jesus moved quickly toward the cross.  They were spoken in the upper room and both contained thoughts about glorifying the Father by fulfilling our purposes on the earth. The first simply affirms a clear expectation that followers of Jesus will produce a great deal of fruit while serving the Father in this life and in doing so will bring glory to him.  The second affirms that Jesus himself brought glory to the Father by completing the work the Father had given him to do.

In Ephesians 2, Paul echoed these thoughts when he said that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which have been prepared in advance for us to do. This might be one definition of our “destiny in Christ.”  That destiny would simply be to complete all the work that the Father has assigned to us in this lifetime.  Remember that in John 14 Jesus declared that those who believe in him would not only do the things that he had been doing but would do even greater things because he was going to the Father.  His words suggest that every believer has a great destiny and that the works God has prepared in advance for each of us are not insignificant but are of such importance and impact that they will bring glory to the Father.

In summary Jesus said that God has ordained eternally significant things for each of us to do – things greater than Jesus did;  that we are expected to bear much fruit to the glory of the Father; and that our goal, like Jesus,  should be to complete all the work the Father has given us for that glorifies him as well.  If that is true then the question becomes how much of that work will we leave undone that was ours to do?

From the casual approach to serving God that many believers seem to take, there may be miles of warehouses standing empty in heaven that were constructed to contain all the fruit produced by those who believe – but much of the harvest never occurred. All of us, I’m sure, pass up some of the “good works prepared in advance” for us.  We miss the opportunities in the busyness of our lives or just turn them down on days that we feel weary or are distracted by the things of this world – not sinful things, just things.  But surely our hearts should long to bear as much fruit as possible for the one who died for us.

I and a few others got to pray with a great  lady yesterday who desired to receive a gift of healing.  I loved her spirit.  Even though she was retirement age she has no intention of retiring from service in the kingdom. She simply wants everything Jesus has provided for her so that she can fulfill everything God has ordained for her. The apostle Paul said that we should earnestly desire spiritual gifts because those gifts are necessary to bear the fruit in our lives that glorifies God. Spiritual gifts go beyond natural talent.  Though they may look the same at times, the results must be very different. One impacts the temporary while the other impacts the eternal.

Without the power of the Holy Spirit fueling what we do, we can produce no more for God than what unbelievers can produce for themselves or their worldly organizations.  In his own strength man can do impressive things – great buildings, great programs, great music, great drama, great marketing, great performances.  Sometimes, churches do impressive things – but in their own strength rather than in the power of the Spirit. I think Jesus had more in mind than that. When Pharaoh’s magicians could no longer match the miracles that God was doing through Moses, they finally said… “ This is the finger of God. “

I believe that should be true for the church. What we do by the power of the Spirit is not something that man should be able to do in his own strength.  The works that bring glory to God must go beyond that otherwise they simply point to the glory of man.  As believers we should never be satisfied with the ordinary but should desire every insight, every revelation, every gift, every dream, and every encounter that Jesus has purchased for us with his blood so that we might complete every work God has given us to do and do it in a way the honors the King of Heaven.  To settle for less devalues the sacrifice of Jesus.  You may want to reflect on that this Easter week.  Be blessed.

“We have two types of relationship with the Lord.  First we learn to live before him as a much- loved child. We practice a childlike faith and innocence.  We learn to simply relax and trust his greatness.  When under utmost pressure, we know we can lift up our arms and expect his greatness to overwhelm us and lift us up into a higher place. Children are uncomplicated, simple and trusting. Second, we learn to say “Father” as an adult in the Spirit, to speak out of a place of growing maturity in who the Lord is making us to be.  “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God are sons of God”(Rom.8:14).

A significant difference exists between being a child of God and being a son of God.  We are all children of God, but not all of us, yet, are sons or daughters of God.  The difference between the two is “learned” experience. As we grow in Christ we experience the other side of the relational paradox.  We learn how to move from a different place of relational anointing. We do not outgrow the childlike stage so as to discard it. Rather we move across the range of relational power from Abba to Father. We need both.”  (Graham Cooke, Approaching the Heart of Prophecy, p. 220-221).

I ran across this section in Cooke’s book and thought it was an interesting point.  He goes on to say that in one sense we never lose the wonder and innocence of a childlike faith and relationship with the Father but on the other hand we must grow up into a spiritual adult who walks in the authority and power of a “royal” ruling over parts of the kingdom for the King who is also our Father.  Paul himself spoke about putting away childish things and growing up into spiritual maturity.  (See 1 Cor. 13:11ff).  There is an infant stage in our spiritual life but then we are called to grow up and become adults in the spiritual realm.

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:12-14).

I think many of us fail to grow up in our spiritual lives because we fail to take on roles in the Kingdom that require more maturity.  We tend to sit and watch others take on those roles as if that kind of maturity is for a few but not for all. That is like believing that adulthood is for a few but not for all.  God has given all of his children areas of the kingdom over which they are to exercise authority and stewardship.  Most of us will be given the role before we have fully grown into it. The demands of the position cause us to grow. If we wait until we are fully qualified to step into our role as a “son” or “daughter” we will always wait for another class, more training, or a more convenient time and life will pass us by.

Our goal then must not be just to get to heaven but to also serve God as mature sons and daughters on the earth who understand the kingdom, understand the mission, understand who we are, understand our authority, understand how to govern and understand how to fight.  Anything less leaves the church as an institution of children rather than a kingdom of mighty men and women who are royals in the household of God.

Paul underlines this principle with a kind of rebuke to the church at Corinth. He discovered that members of the church at Corinth were having disputes and going to secular courts of law to resolve their issues.  His response is interesting.  “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers” (1 Cor.6:2-5).

God has called his saints (that is you and me) to great things that must be managed by mature adults rather than children. You will judge the world.  You will judge angels. The expectation to mature and become strong is not for a few but for all. Perhaps, we haven’t thought about our own maturity and our God-given roles in the earth and have felt satisfied with just keeping the sin out of our lives.  That is a great start but it is only a start. God has much more for you in this world and the world to come.  He has given you great standing and wants you to step into that standing. Let’s get busy taking on the responsibilities of being God’s powerful, wise, holy, and authoritative representatives on the earth and grow into those roles as fast as we can. Let’s get busy moving from being a child of the King to honored sons and daughters of the King. Food for thought today.

My comments about trying to make our spouse or child into our own image instead of honoring God’s design and destiny for their lives seem to have struck a cord…so I thought I would share a few more thoughts about marriage.  Actually, I just want to talk about Christian marriages. I have been involved in pastoral counseling in churches for about thirty years and have sat in front of a counselor myself on more than one occasion.  As I reflect on those meetings, I really believe that most of the couples that have come into my office needed to be “discipled” in the ways of Christ much more than they needed marriage counseling. In many ways they never took Jesus home with them after they said, “I do.” I say that because it is not hard to tell people how to live under the same roof in harmony and love.   The hard thing is getting them to do it.

Scripture is pretty clear and I think very practical.  For instance, we are told to love one another as Christ loved us and then we are given a number of hints about what that looks like.  In the New Testament alone there are a number of “one another” passages that command us to relate to others in certain ways that are very practical ways of loving another person.  We are told to pray for one another, serve one another, put the needs of others before our own, encourage one another, build up one another, submit to one another, be devoted to one another, honor one another, accept one another, and forgive one another as Christ forgave us. There are other passages just as straight forward but these are a sampling.  Most of them are clear enough and don’t take a lot of imagination to figure out ways in a relationship to fulfill these commands. The problem is that couples in marriages that are troubled find all kinds of reasons not to treat each other in these loving ways.

We usually begin to fight in a marriage because our emotional needs for security, affirmation, intimacy, respect, affection, and so forth are not being met by our spouse.  So, we begin to ask for what we want in vague or manipulative ways or assume that if our spouses truly loved us then they could read our minds and intuitively know what we are needing.  As these “needs deficits” build up, our attempts to get our spouse to do what we want become more coercive.

We resort to anger, biting criticisms, silent treatments, guilt tripping, withholding affection, demeaning language, sarcasm, nasty names, accusations, judgments, and bringing up the past in our attempts to force the other person to give us what we need.  In doing so we violate about every teaching or commandment Jesus ever gave us regarding relationships.  When we are called out on our disobedience, we simply try to justify our positions based on the other person’s disobedience. “I said that because he….  I won’t do that until she…. He doesn’t deserve my respect because…. I might forgive after she….”   You can add more of these statements if you like.

But that is like saying that we lie because other people do.  We commit adultery because someone else did.  We refuse to forgive because someone hasn’t earned our forgiveness.  Jesus doesn’t make our godly behaviors conditional on the godly behaviors of others.  In fact, he calls us to love when others don’t.  He calls us to speak well of others when they slander us. He tells us to throw in our coat when someone sues us for a jacket. And he tells us to pray for those who persecute us. How much more should we do those things in a marriage?  So why don’t we do those things?  There are lots of reasons we push back against these commands. We are afraid the other person will take advantage of our kindness.  We are afraid that our needs will never be met.  We are afraid that if we give up too much power in the marriage we will simply be someone’s servant without respect and without standing.  It just seems too risky.

The truth is that obedience to Christ nearly always puts us at risk of being taken advantage of, of being seen as weak, of letting others get the credit they don’t deserve at the office, etc. And yet Jesus still says that we must not attempt to overcome evil with evil but must overcome evil with good. He goes so far as to command us to love our enemies…even when we are married to one.  If you are in a difficult marriage right now your flesh was probably screaming that each of those commandments is insane.

So here is the bottom line.  When we push back against the teachings of Jesus it is because we don’t trust him to protect us, meet our needs, or bless our relationships through surrender. We don’t believe his word is true for us and we don’t believe obedience will produce good outcomes for us. We are afraid to trust and afraid to obey. I am not saying that my surrender to Jesus will save every marriage because eventually both must surrender. But I will say that obedience gives any marriage its best chance but, more than that, it prevents your heart from being poisoned in the process and keeps you form becoming the very thing you hated in your spouse.

Christian marriages fail because we fail to trust the one who designed marriage.  Discipleship is all about trust. When I fail in following Jesus it may be because I don’t know his will in a certain matter but, typically, it is because I don’t believe that doing it his way is in my best interest – in marriage, at the office, or on the golf course.  So, I decide to do it the world’s way which is Satan’s way.   And every time I do it his way, I “take and eat” of the fruit in one form or another.  Victory in the kingdom of God usually takes a kind of reckless obedience like Shadrach and the boys that seems to place us in the fire at first but then brings deliverance after a time of testing. It’s always been that way.  Our marriages need that same reckless obedience on many occasions and someone always has to go first. Think about it and be blessed today!

In a few days Passover will begin at sundown.  I’ve been looking into Passover to gain a greater understanding of whom Jesus is and what he accomplished for us as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  As we discover the depths of the Passover it should also deepen our understanding of the Lord’s Supper and ultimately that is what I am in search of.

Paul tells us that Jesus is our Passover lamb (see 1 Cor. 5:7).  As you go through the prayers and declarations of a Jewish Passover Seder the operative word is “remember.” As we partake of communion the operative word is also “remember.”  But in the Jewish culture remembrance is not just a rehearsal of a few historical facts but it carries with it the idea of a deep meditation and even the thought of re-experiencing an event.  For example, the Feast of Booths is a remembrance of the years Israel spent in the wilderness sleeping in the open so observant Jews will sleep outside during the festival to re-experience what their ancestors endured in the desert thousands of years ago.

In the Passover Seder there are many symbols but they are symbols to be experienced as well as symbols that point to historical events.  Bitter herbs are to be eaten to remind a Jewish family of the bitterness of their ancestor’s bondage in Egypt.  Today, horseradish is usually the bitter herb that brings tears to the eyes as well as heat to the tongue.  Unleavened bread is central and reminds the family partaking of the meal that their ancestors left Egypt in haste but also reminds them of God’s faithful provision through manna, the bread of heaven and food of angels (see Ps.78:24-25), that sustained them for forty years. It reminds them to live righteously as children of God since leaven typically symbolizes sin in the Bible so that unleavened bread is bread or life without sin. For the faithful Jew, these things and more also pointed ahead to the age of Messiah when God would provide peace through “a prophet like Moses” and manna again.  Of course, the lamb was central as Israel killed a lamb for each household during Passover and ate it without breaking any bones as a reminder of the night God’s judgment passed over them because by faith they had placed the blood of the lamb over their doors. As the Jewish family retells the story of the Exodus the story is anchored to not only the biblical accounts, the songs, and the prayers of Passover but to textures, tastes, smells, and sips of wine related to the promises and deeds of God.  It is then followed by feasting and celebration as a people chosen by God.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, in the midst of his Passover Seder, Jesus took wine and bread and said this is my body broken for you and this is my blood, shed for you. In that Seder so may things point to the reality of Jesus who was and is the fulfillment of Passover not just for the Jews but also for all of us.  There was the lamb of God without spot or blemish whose blood applied by faith enables the judgment of God to pass over every believer.  There was the unleavened bread that pointed to the body of Christ unspoiled by sin that was not only broken but would be consumed by those who believe on him.  Throughout the meal wine marked the passages of one part of the story to another as the Holy Spirits tells the story to us and refreshes us as wine refreshed those who partook at the Seder.  And for us there is deliverance from bitter bondage in our lives to life in the Son. For us the central focus is not only the lamb but also the bread of heaven that came down to sustain us. For us the blood is not just a marker on a doorpost but the seal of a covenant between man and God.

As I reflect on these things and much more, Jesus becomes multidimensional as my Savior and my Daily Bread – my manna, my food from heaven, and my covenant sacrifice.  Manna was so significant that a jar of it was placed in the Ark of the Covenant along with the commandments and Aaron’s priestly rod. Manna was concrete evidence of God’s love and provision for his people. As long as the manna fell each morning, it was clear evidence of the presence of God with his people.  It was also evidence that they were not yet at their final destination because once they entered the Promised Land the manna ceased to fall.  As long as we take communion, it reminds us that this is not yet our final destination but that greater promises still lie ahead.

I’m also reminded by the richness of the Jewish Seder how sterile we can make the Lord’s Supper with a quick scripture, a quick bite of a flat cracker and some grape juice. By Hebrew standards that is not much of a remembrance.  In that broken bread and in that cup of wine is every promise related to our salvation – forgiveness, freedom from condemnation, his Spirit within us, healing, provision, and more than anything else the presence of God. In fact, when we take communion we should experience his presence more than at any other moment as, in a sense, the communion bread is our Bread of the Presence.

I know there is so much more that I have yet to grasp.  I want the Spirit to peel off the layers and trust he will do so in the days ahead.  My encouragement to you is to begin your own search to plumb the depths of the Lord’s Supper.  The first century church didn’t come together primarily for great worship or a moving sermon but came together to “remember” the Lord’s death until his return.  Perhaps, we should make it more central and a much deeper experience than we normally do.  Just some food for thought this Passover and this Easter season.  Be blessed!

I met with a young couple this morning.  They were married less than a year and were already having major struggles in their relationship.  He was frustrated.  She was crying.  They felt like they were fighting all the time and couldn’t understand what was going on. They both loved the Lord and were committed to ministry and growing spirituality so why were they fighting?  Had they made a mistake?  Did they misread God when they prayed and heard him bless their plans to become one?

After hearing their stories it became plain that they were missing one of the first rules of marriage – one of the first rules of loving someone in the Lord. That rule is to honor the way God has made the other person because he has made them for their destiny as well as you for your destiny.  To fail to honor God’s design in another individual gets in the way of developing talents and spiritual gifts – which gets in the way of being fulfilled and fruitful -which gets in the way of love.

When we come to a place where the differences in another individual (especially a spouse or a child) begin to frustrate us our tendency is to get busy trying to encourage (or coerce) that person to become more like us.  But in that moment we forget that God had a very intentional hand in making them just as he did in making us.  David declared, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps.139:13-16).

In this Psalm we are told that God creates our inmost being.  I understand that to be not only our talents but our temperament or personality as well.  Our design is also related to our destiny – the specific things for which God has uniquely created us, the things ordained for us day by day in heaven.  Most of us have an intuitive sense of what we were made for and we intuitively push back when people in our lives don’t allow us to “be ourselves.” We aren’t always sure of how we should express who we are but we know what feels natural and what feels unnatural to us.  We know what subjects in school come more easily than others. We know what attracts us and what repels us.

Paul echoes the same sentiment in the New Testament.  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph.2:10).  Again, workmanship implies that God has an intentional hand in our design and our design is related to good works prepared in advance for us.  It stands to reason that if God has ordained good works for us then he will also design us in such a way that we can be effective in accomplishing those things.  In most cases, it will take not only the right talents but also the right temperament to fulfill God’s call on our life.  In addition, the Spirit will release spiritual gifts in our lives as icing on the cake.

As an example, if God places a call on someone’s life to teach special needs children then that person will need the academic capacity to get a degree and the talent to teach plus compassion and patience to take into the classroom.  In addition, that person will probably need a bent toward structure because the children will need structure. Talent and temperament both are needed and become part of God’s intentional design for that individual.

The couple I met with both had talents and a call to ministry but those gifts and that ministry needed to be expressed in different ways. He was extroverted and gregarious and loved to study the Word in big bites. He loved street ministry and his desire was to fill their house with teens every night for ministry and teaching. She was introverted and loved to go deep with a few people.  She loved the clarity and structure of prepared studies.  A house full of kids every night or approaching strangers on the street sounded like “a living hell” to her.  It is not who God made her to be. Yet, her husband wanted so badly for her to be his mate in ministry that he was pressuring her to do ministry in ways that fit his design but not hers.  She experienced that pressure as rejection of who she was and a statement that her spirituality was inadequate.  She felt rejected by her new husband who really is a great guy.  He just didn’t understand how his design called him to a different style that hers.  I encouraged them to find some middle ground but to allow different expressions of their faith so that they both could fulfill the destiny God had ordained for them.  Their destinies would be parallel as they went through life together but not identical.

Many of us have had destinies and spiritual gifts that never flourished because someone in our lives didn’t value the design God had built into us. As a result, we eventually either failed to value whom God had made us to be or just gave up on our dreams to keep the peace.   As parents, spouses, or spiritual mentors it is not our job to make people into our image but to help them discover God’s unique design for their life and it release them into that adventure.  Our job is to build them up and encourage them to pursue the “good works” for which God has destined them rather than to deconstruct them with criticism and to remake them as we see fit. Remember, we are to accept one another as Christ accepts us (see Rom.15:7).

One major aspect of Christian marriage, then, is that we pursue the destiny God has ordained for us while encouraging our spouse to do the same.  As we each operate in our God-given gifts and talents we will experience the fulfillment of partnering with God and when we do, we will be more content in every part of our life and that contentment will bless our marriage.  Remember the phrase, “Be all that you can be!”  That needs to be our heart for our spouse and children in their service to the Lord. You will be blessed by blessing them as they grow to be all that God has made them to be.

The past few days have been filled with the news about the shootings at Ft. Hood as a tragic accumulation of school shootings and shootings on military bases continues to mount.  Every spokesperson for the military or the school districts decry the violence and promise to do more to protect our children and our men and women in uniform.  Everyone has their theory about why these shootings continue.  Some will cry for more gun control while others will blame poverty or discriminatory polices in the U.S. Some will blame our heavy- handed ways overseas.  The common denominator is that everyone is shocked, everyone is stumped, and everyone exudes a kind of helplessness about the situation.

But over the past 20 years the same people have worked tirelessly to get God, his Word, prayer, and the gospel out of the public schools and out of the military. They seem to relate these tragedies to the failure of laws, policies, politics, or sometimes parenting. No doubt, each of these contributes but the problem is not a failure in those arenas but in the spiritual arena of this nation.

Most of our powerful policy makers in Washington and even in higher education subscribe to humanism and the idea that all men are basically good. They believe that mankind does not need a God to rise above the failings of human nature or society.  They simply need the right education, the right philosophy, the right economic programs, and the right guidance from government.  They often believe that conservative parents and religious institutions simply get in the way.  The truly see God as the enemy.  So…let’s get rid of God and his influence and see how well we are doing.

The truth is that good does reside in each man because each man was made in the image of God. Traces of God’s goodness still exist even in those who have not been made a new creation. However, our fallen dominates that “goodness” until the Holy Spirit quickens the spirit of man so that man once again begins to be governed by God. The psalmist tells us that a fool says in his heart that there is no God.  The apostle Paul tells us that without God the thinking (the philosophies) of men is futile and their hearts are darkened. Claiming to be wise we become fools. (See Rom.1:21-22).  The very thing that can push back against the evil that prompts these tragedies has been removed or is being removed from our schools, our military, our courthouses, and our culture.  Those things that were once called evil are now called good (same sex marriage, drunkenness, false religion, addictive substances, abortion, sex outside of marriage, etc.). At the same time righteousness is called bigotry, hate, ignorance, and evil.

I was visiting with an amazing  brother last night that served as a counselor immediately following the Columbine shootings. He visited with those who witnessed the killings and those who were shot and recovering in hospitals. He said that one after another, when he asked the students to describe what they had seen, they kept describing the scene as “satan pointing a gun and shooting.”  There were no promptings for that remark.  What they saw was evil dominating and directing young men to perform satanic acts of murder.  Only the power of God can push back against the reality of evil.  As a nation, we have asked God to step off the playing field and without him we will lose the game in ways we never imagined.

It’s not too late. There are still many believers who hold up the name of Jesus and pray with power against evil.  But when leaders fail, the people suffer. Strong, unwavering believers must step into the arenas of politics and law (and media) to open our classrooms, our military, and our courthouses to the presence of God once again.  More than that, our churches must rise up and push back against the enemy through prayer, righteousness, and evangelism all governed by love. The down side of free will is that God allows us to experience the consequences of what we ask for.  America voted for our current leaders who disdain the Creator of the Universe. Not all of those in authority are unbelievers. I know that there are a number of committed Christians in congress, but the believers are outnumbered.

Gun laws, giving false religions deference over Christianity, forbidding men and women to pray in the name of Jesus in the military, the promotion of abortion, turning our children over to be raised by government agencies, and removing creationism from education will not slow the rate of these tragedies.  They will increase because only Christ and his Spirit can reverse the power of darkness on this planet because only Christ and his Spirit can overcome the fallen nature of man.  There is no other way.  Please pray for the families of those who lost loved ones at Ft. Hood and pray for a nation to turn back to the one who made us strong and gave us victories in our past. Do it for your children.

I was reminded of a story I heard a number of years ago.  A man was leaving his city on a journey.  It was in the 1800’s, he wasn’t affluent, and so he was walking to his destination. Many people were walking on the same road and as he walked he noticed a man approaching in a robe and a hood.  Thinking that he might be a religious man he greeted him and asked him about his business in the city where this man had lived for many years.  The hooded figure replied, “ I am Death and I am going to claim those whose days have been fulfilled.  Don’t be alarmed; you’re not on my list. ”  Regardless, the man quickly disengaged from the conversation and went on his way.   Four days later he was returning and encountered Death on his way out.  The city cemetery was just outside the city walls and he noticed dozens of families standing around fresh graves mourning their losses.  The man spoke to Death and said, “How does it feel to know you are responsible for the sorrow of so many?” Death replied, “It’s what I do.  But actually, I only claimed a few of those.  Worry and fear took the rest.”

Jesus spoke to his disciples about worry.  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes” (Mt.6:25)?  Jesus then went on to say, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Mt. 6:33-34).

Most of us agree with the principle Jesus taught but follow up our agreement with the thought,  “Easier said than done!”  Nearly all of us are prone to worry regardless of our commitment to cease worrying.  In fact, the more we focus on not worrying, the more we worry.  We fall into Paul’s dilemma of doing the things we hate.  So how do we escape lying in bed at night or early in the morning and worrying about the meeting, the bills, our health, our children, and so forth.  Thankfully, Jesus offers a practical approach at the end of his teaching on worry.  There he counsels us to seek first the kingdom of God.

The implication is that we can derail the worry train by shifting our focus from the stuff we are worrying about to greater things that have far greater implications. Think about the things of God, eternal things, life-changing things that he allows us to participate it.  If you are worrying about something that you can actually do something about then do it – with the Lord at your side.  But most of us worry about things we know we cannot affect. In those moments think about bigger things until those thoughts produce prayer and prayer produces peace.

Bigger things, kingdom things remind us of how big our God is and should remind us of how much he loves us. A true recognition of a Father’s power and greatness along with his immense love for us should calm much of our worry.  In addition, one of the “fruits of the Spirit” is peace which the Holy Spirit is able to release when we enter into prayer. Jesus was clear that worry cannot increase our days although in certainly has the capacity to decrease our days.  So Jesus tells us to reflect on how the Father provides for things that have much less value than we do and to reflect on the big goals of the kingdom in which you are involved or can be involved. Seek first the kingdom.

Worry is about perspective.  How big is the issue really?  How much difference will it make a hundred years from now in your life?  What is too big for God and why would I think that he would not involve himself in my struggles when I ask? God’s faithfulness, God’s love, God’s power, God’s priorities – those are the things to think about when worry seeps up in the midst of the night. Worry is fear and fear is not faith so think on things that build your faith.  That is the solution to worry.  So… be blessed and don’t worry!

We are always tempted with fatalism. When we say, “Well, I have always been impatient; I guess I have to live with it,” we are being fatalistic. When we say, “That man never had a loving mother or father, you shouldn’t be surprised that he ended up in prison,” we speak as fatalists. When we say, “She was terribly abused as a child; how do you ever expect her to have a healthy relationship with a man,” we allow fatalism to overshadow us…Fatalism is the attitude that that makes us live as passive victims of exterior circumstances beyond our control. The opposite of fatalism is faith. Faith is the deep trust that God’s love is stronger than all the anonymous powers of the world and can transform victims of darkness into servants of light” (Henri Nouwen, Here and Now, p.79).

I have known many fatalistic Christians in my life. I’m sure I have been one myself once or twice.  Fatalistic Christians face disappointment with the spirit of Eeyore. Remember the sad, depressed donkey from Winnie the Pooh who was always hopeless, disappointed, and “unexpectant” about life. Many Christians are that way.  “Well…I guess God doesn’t answer my prayers. I must be one of those God has chosen to be alone and to suffer through life.  Nothing seems to work out for me even though I try so hard.  I keep trying but I think it’s useless. I’m not sure Christianity works for me…”

Spiritual fatalism faces life with a belief that whatever my circumstances are it must be God’s will so I must learn to accept it and suffer through because there is really nothing I can do about it.  Spiritual fatalists expect disappointment and defeat.  They pray very little but if they do they don’t ask for much beyond the ordinary because they really don’t believe that God operates much outside the ordinary.  They view people who believe in the power of the Spirit and the miraculous move of God as people who seek the easy way out.  They toss them into a big pile with prosperity gospel proponents and view themselves as the true believers who endure the hand that has been dealt them with faith and perseverance.

No doubt there are times when every believer must endure and when hardship and heartaches come his way.  We all face that.  Out response is the difference.  I have come to believe that the fatalist takes the easy way our rather than the one who pushes back against the hardships of life.  The first believes that God sends all the pain and disappointment their way to make them better people. The second group believes that Satan sends pain and disappointment and that   many of the cruelties of life are not God’s will so we join him in pushing back.

Fatalists have few questions about life or faith.  They almost take the Zen Buddhist approach to life: “Why ask why?”  They rarely take personal responsibility for their situation because “there is nothing they can really do about it.”  It’s kind of a gambler’s theology which states, “Sometimes the Holy Spirit deals you in, sometimes he deals you out and you just play the cards he gives you.”

Faith does not role over but wrestles. Faith believes that we can push back the darkness with prayer and authority. Faith believes that God is partnering with us to overcome insurmountable odds. Faith believes that we are more than conquerors rather than victims of God’s will and random circumstances.

I have also discovered that faith causes us to not only wrestle with the devil but sometimes with God as well.   When I have believed God for healing or other things I must struggle to understand why one was healed and another wasn’t; why I was given one spiritual gift but not the other that I have hungered for and pursued;  why the marriage I prayed for did not survive even though I prayed with faith; and why the child died when I fully believe it was not God’s will.  And in the midst of that wrestling I am still compelled by faith to keep praying and expecting God to answer my prayers in powerful ways. That is not the easy way.

Faith does not require certainty in outcomes but only certainty in the goodness of God. But because of our faith in his goodness we ask for miracles when others concede.  We see things as attacks of the enemy to be resisted rather than the irresistible will of God.  It takes more energy to pray all night believing that your prayers make a powerful difference than just to shrug off the injustices of this world as something out of your control.  God is looking for people with faith not fatalism.  Where are you standing on the struggles in your life today?  The enemy wants to persuade us all that life is beyond our control but God tells us that all things are possible through Christ and then calls us to put on the armor of God and ready ourselves for battle because by faith the battle is already won.  Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power it says.  In Christ, you can change lives, nations, and history…so know who you are; know who He is; live by faith not by fatalism and be blessed.