The gospels are the story of Jesus but they are also the stories of people touched by Jesus.  They are stories of ordinary people suffering in all the ways the world afflicts its citizens.  These people suffered from bondage to sin, physical disabilities, physiological conditions, psychological conditions, isolation, rejection, bitterness, loss, discrimination, hunger, spiritual thirst, and demonic affliction of all kinds. Some even suffered from death which is a fairly serious condition.  Jesus had an answer for each of those things.

Many Christians scan the gospels and accept the miracles of deliverance, healing, raising the dead, and transforming lives as true but attribute those events to the deity of Jesus.  “Of course he could do those things because he was God. But, we can’t expect to do those things because we are not God.” Certainly, he was God, but he didn’t come as God.  His primary identification was the Son of Man.

Jesus has the position of God but came in the condition of man.  He chose to face the devil and life on this planet as a man rather than as God in a man suit.  If he walked among us as God then he didn’t suffer temptation as we did. He never truly felt hunger or fear or rejection. But the writer of Hebrews says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Heb.4:15).  Jesus wasn’t Jesus before he put on flesh.  He was the Word of God and Adoni sitting on a heavenly throne in Isaiah 6. Before he put on flesh he was God and manifested as God in all things. But when he put on flesh, he checked his God and creator- of- the-universe abilities at the door.

At the point of conception in a human body he became Jesus, Son of Man.  Paul declared, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim.2:5). Paul did not say the god Christ Jesus but the man Christ Jesus. I do believe God had given Jesus the right to pick up his divine capacities at any time if he chose to do so.  Jesus said, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father” (Jn.10:17-18).  In another place Jesus said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels” (Mt.26:53)?   It seems to me that the Word and the Father had a deal.  “Okay, you go as a man, live as a man, suffer as a man, and face temptation like a man but if at any moment you think these people aren’t worth it, you exercise your deity and get out of there.” The miracle to me is that Jesus chose to stick it out as a man even unto death in the face of man’s worst scorn and brutality.

Jesus came to show us how a man could live on the earth when he walked in close fellowship with the Father.  He didn’t come to show us how God could live on the earth in close fellowship with the Father.  That example would have done us no good.  In addition, Jesus sent out numbers of ordinary men who performed the same miracles he did and said that those who believe on him would not only do what he did, but would do even greater things (See Jn. 14:12).   As Jesus walked the earth he touched lives that were radically changed by his love and power.  My point is that he expects us to do the same thing. Jesus expects his church to carry on his mission of preaching good news, binding up the broken hearted, setting captives free, giving sight to the blind, and facilitating radical change in the lives of men and women.

Our church offers a ministry entitled Free Indeed and it is the source of the material in my book Born to Be Free. For the past six years we have watched God dramatically change hundreds of lives in a few weeks rather than in decades. We just finished our most recent installment of Free Indeed and watched eighty people discover the love of the God and the power of the kingdom over a period of two months and a weekend.  Most were changed forever and set free by his touch and his power. People are amazed at what Jesus does in those few weeks but the truth is that we simply teach the basics of scripture – what Jesus did for us at the cross, who we are in Christ, the expectation of radical transformation in the kingdom, how to hear God and receive from him, how to walk in authority, and the basics of spiritual warfare.

We teach these basics over a period of eight weeks and then engage everyone in a weekend of experiencing Jesus through inner healing and deliverance and Jesus always does amazing things.  He does those with the basics of our faith and a lot of very imperfect vessels that serve as leaders – including myself.  People discover who they are.  They experience deep emotional and spiritual healing as well as physical healing.  They are set free from their past, the lies of Satan, and demonic affliction that has hindered their walk with the Lord for years.   In other words, we simply do what Jesus did every day.

My question is, “If we see that much power and transformation from simply learning and doing the basics of our faith, how much greater could our impact be on the world if we plunged into the deeper things of the Spirit and the kingdom?  How much greater impact could we have if we just did the basics in everyone’s church rather than in a few?”  When we take Jesus at his word that we are to do the things he did, faith becomes exciting. When we risk being disappointed because a certain person might not be healed or delivered we find that we are not disappointed because being willing to risk something for Jesus is its own reward.  Not only that, but many, many are healed, delivered, and transformed in the name of Jesus.  How fun is that!

So today, let me encourage you to just trust Jesus in the basics. Believe that whatever he did, he did as a man and as a man or woman of faith, he will do it through you again.   In doing so, he will bless many and you will feel the joy of partnering with your Lord and Savior in radically changing lives and destinies.  Go for it and be blessed!

In the early pages of the gospel of Luke, Jesus had just been questions by disciples of John the Baptist.  John had sent them to ask Jesus if he were, in fact, the Messiah or if another was to come.  That moment gives us some insight into the ministry of prophets.  John was, according to Jesus, the greatest of the prophets and yet he was unsure of whom Jesus was. Paul says of New Testament prophets that “we know in part and we prophesy in part” (Jn.13:9).  Apparently that was true of Old Testament prophets as well.  They spoke the things that God put on their hearts and in their minds but often those prophecies were just bits and pieces of God’s overall canvas rather than the whole picture.  John had been confident at one time that Jesus was the Messiah but even John seemed to be looking for a powerful, political, and military savior of Israel rather than a suffering savior who would die on a cross.

But John had come in the spirit of Elijah and was the last in line of the great Old Testament prophets.  He had been sent to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming Messiah who was already among them.  Many of the Jews sensed the call of God to return to him and his ways and so submitted to John’s baptism as a sign of repentance and a need for spiritual cleansing.  Luke said, “All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.” (Luke 7:28-30).

The last phrase really catches my attention.  “But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purposes for them…” The religious elite and those who knew scripture best rejected God’s purposes in their life.  The evidence of that was that they had refused to be baptized by John because to do so was a confession of spiritual need and sin that cried out to be cleansed. Here is what we discover.  I n our relationship with God, the heart is more important than the head.  These were men who spent their lives in prayer, fasting, and study of the Torah.  But their study had not prepared their hearts for God’s Messiah.  Undoubtedly, they did not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit but the common people responded to John’s preaching while the religious elite did not.

I can think of a couple of a couple of reasons. First of all, the religious system of the Jews did not meet the need of the people at all.  They had limited access to God because they were not priests.  The Law seemed like a burden the demanded much and delivered little for them. Their tithes supported a system that had little regard for the unschooled and the unwashed. Because they had little standing with the religious leaders they felt they had little standing with God.  They were in need of good news.

For the Pharisees, however, the Law and the religious system that supported the Law gave them status and a false sense of security about their salvation.  Doing all the right religious things and being schooled in Torah theology gave them the sense that God was pleased with them and honored them as much as they honored themselves.  They were wrong, of course, but that was their view of themselves and God.

Secondly, the Pharisees and experts in the Law were a self-righteous bunch.  Legalism, salvation based on our own merit, forces people to one of two positions. Either I give up all together because I’m overwhelmed with my personal sense of sin and failure or I convince myself that I am more righteous than most so my odds for getting into heaven are pretty good. The common people felt the wait and hopelessness of salvation based on personal merit.  Again they needed good news so when John began to hint that a new doorway to God was about to be opened, they were willing to listen.  The religious leaders, however, needed to protect their righteous persona so they could not submit to a baptism that was overtly for sinners.

The lesson is that self-righteousness and a commitment to the religious status quo will cause us to miss God’s purposes for our life.  God reveals his purposes to the desperate and the hungry. Blessed are the poor in spirit.  Scripture is clear that God has purposes for believers in general but specific and unique purpose for each believer.  “   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). “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers^” (Rom.8:29).

When we are living out God’s purposes for our life, our lives have eternal significance.  We experience the pleasure and the power of God flowing through us as we fulfill those purposes.  Life seems abundant and exciting rather than tedious and boring. The problem with legalism and religious systems are that they are a treadmill with each day seeming much like the one before it.  Depending on God and stepping into his purposes each day is an adventure.  Have you ever noticed that the most extreme believers seem to have the most fun?  It is because they have pushed into God’s purposes more that most of us.

I believe the abundant life Jesus promises is tied up with the purposes God has ordained for our lives. Religion will not get us there but instead will blind us to those purposes. Self-righteousness and a need to be in control will also cause us to miss God’s directions. A commitment to a static faith and a spiritual status quo will also cause us to miss his purposes that, like his mercies, are new every morning.  Let me invite you to humbly ask God to show you his purposes for your life today and for faith to pursue those purposes. Those who hungered for a fresh touch, a fresh revelation, and rekindled relationship with the Father discovered his purposes for them in the days of John the Baptist. That same hunger will open up his purposes for us today.  Be blessed by going after your destiny in Christ.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,       I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:15-20)

This is a text that I often go to when ministering freedom and healing to broken and oppressed believers. Most of us continue to live with our brokenness because we don’t truly understand who God is, what he has provided for us, or who we are in Christ.  Through the years you have probably known someone that continued to live in a hurtful, abusive situation year after year. Perhaps they were in an abusive relationship or a job where they were underpaid, overworked and never appreciated.  They clearly hated their situation and it was clear that it was taking a toll on them emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  And yet, they would not take steps to free themselves from the relationship or to seek different employment.

I have visited with a number of individuals in those situations.  Some finally made the break after they became absolutely desperate.   I asked them why they had stayed in those hurtful situations so long when everyone they knew encouraged them to get out.  Inevitably the same reasons always surface.  One reason was fear of the unknown.  As bad as their situation was, they knew what they had and feared having nothing at all if they left the relationship or the job.  Most of us would believe that nothing was better than what they had, but fear that the future might hold something even worse kept them where they were.

Others viewed themselves in such a way that they truly believed they didn’t deserve anything better.  The messages from their past had convinced them that they were worthless, low achievers whom no one would ever love or value.  Their abusers or unappreciative employers reinforced those beliefs so they thought life would never offer more because they didn’t deserve anymore.  So … they stayed.

The third reason was that their mothers or fathers had modeled that life for them by continuing in abusive relationships or staying in dead end jobs with a sense of resignation that the world would offer them nothing more. These abused and oppressed people in some way believed that what they were experiencing was “the norm” because they had watched their parents endure it all the years they were growing up.  In some subconscious way they probably sought out what their parents had modeled because that was familiar.

Our spiritual lives can be the same.  Many believers continue to live with a sense of insignificance, a painfully negative view of themselves, oppressive thoughts, addictions, and general sadness because they believe there are no real alternatives for them or because they simply don’t deserve more in this world.  Some even believe that God has visited their misery on them so that continuing in their pain is a way of “paying for their sins” even though Jesus had already paid for every sin.  Many have simply taken on an identity of pain, rejection, and failure.  They can’t imagine being anything or anyone else and so they stay in that place for decades.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul affirms their faith and love and his excitement about their newly found life in Christ. He then lets them know that he has been constantly praying for them and asking God to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He says that he is praying for the Spirit to give these believers both of those gifts so that they might know God better.

We can come to know God through study, teaching, conversations, etc. to an extent.  But if our faith and understanding of God stay at an intellectual level then God remains a concept more than a person. We tend to know about God rather than knowing God.  Revelation deposits truth in our hearts – in our core being – and that is where profound change and healing occur.  Wisdom is knowing how God perceives people and situations and acting in accord with God’s view of things.  To know how God thinks is a huge step toward knowing God. To know how he feels about people, especially ourselves, is also a huge step toward knowing him.   Paul is really asking God to reveal both his mind and heart to the believers at Ephesus so that they might truly get to know him.  And as they say, “To know him is to love him.”  To know his love for us is also the most healing thing in the universe.

Paul goes on to say that he has asked the Father to enlighten the eyes of their hearts that they might also perceive what they have in Jesus.  In short, Paul declares that they have hope, riches, and power in Jesus.  They have hope because God has a future for them that is full of life and blessing if they will trust him enough to receive it.  They have the riches of heaven available to them if they will receive his promises by faith.  They also have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and that created the universe working on their behalf. Most of us have read those truths and promises in scripture and would say we believe them.  But for many of us, the belief is an intellectual position rather than something we have “written on our hearts.”

The work of the Spirit is revelation and revelation writes truth on our heart.  When we get the truth in our hearts it changes things.  Believers who stay in their brokenness and oppression don’t know God, who they are in Christ, or the riches that are theirs if they will pursue them.  They hear these truths but haven’t received them in their hearts.  They need revelation.  They need an experience with God, a fresh and personal word from God, or a teaching to explode in their hearts.  They need the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom and understanding to know what God has just done in their lives and to receive it as a gift from him.

I believe that we need to pray Paul’s prayer constantly for ourselves and for those who are struggling in their faith. We desperately need divine wisdom, the revelation of God’s truth, and for the “eyes of our heart” to be opened so that we might fully understand everything that is ours in Jesus as well as the power our Father is willing to wield on our behalf. When we grasp those things we can let go of the present and step into the future. We can exchange the devil’s view of who we are for the Father’s view of who we are. We can lay fear about the unknown aside and trust that God already has it worked out in marvelous ways.

Today I pray that God will give you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that you may know him better and that he will open the eyes of your heart so that you may know the hope, the riches, and the power that are yours in Jesus Christ.  I hope you’ll pray the same for me.  Be blessed.

John Ortberg is an author and speaker you need to check out if you aren’t familiar with him.  I was listening to a video message he presented at a prominent church in Atlanta recently and was reminded that many Christians struggle with the concept of God’s grace in their lives.  I thought it was an observation that deserved some attention on this blog.

Many of us were quite comfortable with our need for God’s grace when we were unsaved, unknowing sinners. Our rationale is that, no matter how sinful our lives were, we didn’t know any better. Because of our “ignorance,” God was glad to pour out his saving grace on us. And so we live a life of joy for a few months after coming to Christ filled with the knowledge that all is forgiven because we have been saved by grace through faith and not by anything we have done or by any merit we have earned.

But for many of us, a subtle or not so subtle sense of condemnation begins to creep into our lives. Perhaps the condemnation comes as a steady whisper from the enemy or it comes through well-intended but somewhat misdirected teaching from our churches.  An unspoken belief begins to take root inside of us that we were saved by grace but we must become Christ-like by our own efforts and if we are not growing by leaps and bounds God is unhappy.  Somehow we begin to think that grace was available when we didn’t know any better but now that we know what constitutes right and wrong, we better toe the mark by our own efforts if we want to continue in God’s good graces.

At that point, our Christian walk becomes a burden rather than a joy and a source of condemnation rather than a life of freedom.  Have you ever noticed how hard it is to find the fruit if the Spirit in many long-time Christians?  I’m not talking about morality or good works. We can find those things.  I’m talking about the first three expressions of the fruit of the Spirit that are listed in Galatians 5 – love, joy, and peace. Week after week I see believer’s come forward during our ministry time at the end of each service and they are burdened, troubled, and joyless.  I’m not talking about those who just lost a loved one or found out that their spouse has been unfaithful.  I’m talking about believers who live year in and year out without a true sense of love, joy, or peace.

I believe two things are missing.  One is the transformation that Jesus offers to every believer. His promise and mission is to extend God’s grace to all who will receive it through the preaching of the gospel.  It is also to heal broken hearts and set captives free while exchanging garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa.61).   Many of us have heard the good news of forgiveness but not the good news of transformation and freedom which also stands on the grace of God. If believers have no expectation for significant change in their hearts and in their lives, they will not change.

The other missing component is the belief that I am not only saved by grace but also live by grace  – even when I fall short and even when I knew better.  Living by grace is not having a cavalier attitude toward sin. Rather it is believing that God’s grace is always much bigger than my sin. It is knowing that, by my own invitation, God is working in me every day by his Spirit to transform me into the image of Jesus Christ.  My part is to make myself available to him and ask him to do his work in me.  His part is to transform my heart which will then transform my actions.

In my book, Born to Be Free, I speak of a position / condition paradigm for understanding our sanctification (the process of becoming like Jesus).  The writer of Hebrews tells us “by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb.10:14).  That means that the grace of God, through the sacrifice of Jesus, has given us a sinless status before the Father and he always relates to us on the basis of Christ’s righteousness which has been credited to us.  While doing that, however, he is also working on our condition (sinfulness and brokenness) to make us like Jesus and to bring our condition in line with our position.

We get focused on the ugliness of the process while the Father is only focused on the end product.  Builders have a very clear picture of what the home they are building will look like in the end. They don’t focus on the weed-choked lot where the house will eventually rest.  They don’t despise the ugly pieces of plastic PVC pipe sticking up out of a fresh foundation. They don’t get hung up on bare lumber sticking up into the air or all kinds of trash on the lot that will be cleared out later.  For the majority of the process, a stately home looks like a chaotic mess that will never amount to anything.  The master builder, however, knows what the end product will look like so he doesn’t despise the process. The same is true for our lives.  We condemn ourselves for the chaotic process while God is confident in his finished product.

A life lived by grace, remembers that Jesus is the carpenter not us. It remembers that God always views us through a lens of righteousness not failure or sin, and that God is quite aware of our condition and is faithfully working on that.  You are God’s project. He does not hold us responsible to transform ourselves, but only to invite him to do the work and trust him while he is doing it.  In that environment love, joy and peace can develop and, like trees alongside the river of God, can bear fruit that heals the nations.

Remember – you were saved by grace and you go on by grace every day.  Rejoice in that truth and live in its warmth. God’s grace is sufficient and we must trust in it now as we did when we first came to Jesus. When the church is filled with loving, joyful, and peaceful Christians, the world will flock to Jesus.  After all, those are the very things everyone is looking for and those are the things the world is selling.  It’s just that the world is selling “knock-offs” rather than the real thing.  When the world finally sees the real thing in us, they will beg to know where we got ours.  Living by grace after being saved by grace is the answer.  Be blessed.

Saul was Israel’s first king.  He is one of the most interesting studies in human nature in scripture. He is often contrasted with King David in studies about leadership or being a spiritual man.  Saul is always the “don’t do it that way” part of the study. In his defense, he wasn’t all that enthusiastic about becoming king in the first place. In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel began to express their desire to be governed by a king like all the nations that surrounded them.  Until that time, Israel had been a theocracy governed by God himself with judges and priests representing him. God warns them about the perils of giving that much power to a man but the people insist.  In response, God sends Samuel to Kish the Benjamite who had an impressive son named Saul. God commanded Samuel to find Saul and anoint him as king over Israel.   Samuel did so with several objections from Saul.  However, as Saul was anointed by the prophet, the Spirit of God came on him and changed his heart so that Saul accepted this appointment to be king.

Saul seemed to do well in the beginning of his reign but it wasn’t long before some serious character flaws began to immerge. A huge turning point in Saul’s reign is reported in 1 Samuel 15.  In that chapter, God commanded Saul to attack the Amalekites as judgment against their sins. God clearly told Saul to destroy the tribe and everything in it.  They were to spare no one and nothing as judgment against them. This text from that chapter is telling.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

Two fatal flaws stand out in Saul’s character is this chapter.  First of all, we discover that Saul craved the approval of men more than the approval of God. Why else would he go to Carmel to set up a monument in his own honor?  Those who seek the approval of men to such a degree always question their own value or competence. Saul seemed to have little faith that the God who had established his kingdom could keep it secure. And so he built a monument proclaiming his greatness to the people like some third world dictator brandishing a slew of shiny brass medals he never earned. Those who are not convinced of their authority go to great lengths to convince others of their authority.  Those who have little character, pay others to proclaim what great men they are. Perhaps, they are hoping to believe it themselves.

Finally, when Samuel caught up with him at Gilgal, Saul greeted him with proclamations about how he had thoroughly obeyed the Lord’s commands to destroy the Amalekites.  Of course, Samuel immediately heard evidence to the contrary and soon discovered that Saul had spared the life of Agag, the king of Amalek, as well. And yet, apparently in Saul’s view he had been completely obedient to the Lord. His personal wants and desires often blinded him to his own disobedience. Theologians call it “accommodative theology” which means I interpret scripture in a way that accommodates my personal desires or situation to the exclusion of God’s true intent.

Before we skewer Saul for his monument building and playing fast and loose with the Lord’s commands, we need to acknowledge that we each have a little of Saul in us.  Even the best of us succumb to the praise of men at times and promoting ourselves in order to maintain our positions of “power and influence” or, at least, to secure our place in the “pecking order” of our social group or business. How many of us have “engineered” outcomes that we desired rather than waiting to see if the Lord would establish the thing – a relationship, a job promotion, an invitation, a house or a car we couldn’t afford, etc.?  After we had forced all the square pegs into the round holes to get what we wanted, we declared it was God’s leading, even if it violated a few biblical principles along the way.  In manipulating circumstances to get what we want, we reveal our belief that God can’t be trusted to give is the things that make us happy. We also reveal our belief that happiness is more important than holiness. Saul simply reinterpreted God’s commands so that he could give away what he didn’t care about and keep the things his flesh craved while declaring that he was God’s man all the way.

In the end, those character traits cost him his kingdom and his destiny. No doubt we all “mess up.”  Certainly King David had his share of spiritual failures and character lapses.  But the real proof of a man’s character is not always in whether or not he “blows it,” but rather in his response when he does. Saul consistently excused and rationalized his failings – sometimes with outlandish self-justifications. David acknowledged his sin, took full responsibility for it, and trusted in the unfailing love and mercy of God.

David’s view of God was significantly different from Saul’s.  David held a firm belief that the throne was God’s all along. God had put him on the throne and would keep him there as long as God determined. He was also willing to relinquish the throne the day that God said he was done. David also hungered for God more than the throne and more than the approval of men. Those perspectives made him great in the kingdom of God even though he had some serious train wrecks from time to time.

I’m convinced that we all have a little of David in us and a little of Saul.  To the extent that our sense of significance comes from our position or our popularity rather than from our relationship with the Father, God cannot trust us with more. More would lead us into idolatry. To the extent that we “engineer” the outcomes we desire rather than waiting on a word from God, God will not be able to bless those outcomes otherwise we would think that he simply exists to do our bidding like a cosmic butler or the genie in a bottle.

In the end, Saul went a little crazy trying to protect his throne from David even though God had told him that his throne had been taken away. Paranoia, jealous rages, and monuments to himself were the results of believing that his throne, power, and influence were his rather than God’s. David held it all loosely and viewed his throne, power and influence as simply things God had given him to steward until he took them back.  His goal was to please God rather than men. Eventually, Messiah will sit on the throne of David forever. Saul’s name will stay in the “don’t do it that way” category.  These things are written for our learning and on occasion we need to scan our own lives and motives to see if we are on a good trajectory or headed for disaster. Have we been busy building monuments for God or for ourselves?

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Tim.1:6-7)

Timothy was a young man who, like many of us, tended to discount his gifts, his ability and his influence.  By nature he apparently was loving and gentle and was much more comfortable standing in the shadows than being center stage.  You can imagine traveling with Paul who was bold to a fault and didn’t mind picking a fight with anyone (even Peter) when a principle of faith was on the line. I’m guessing that Timothy’s temperament was so opposite from Paul’s that Paul’s faith, boldness, miracles, and even his academics fueled a great sense of inadequacy in Timothy.

Most of us have felt that inadequacy when we have been around men and women who are world-shakers with “over-the-top” spiritual gifts. As much as possible, I pursue a greater understanding of the Holy Spirit and a greater anointing by going to conferences that are being led some of God’s “generals” in the faith.  It’s a dangerous pursuit because although I may receive the fresh word or revelation I was looking for and although I jumped in line for every impartation, I often go home feeling so spiritually inadequate that I want to check in my Bible and turn every ministry responsibility over to anyone that will take it. After a day or two of hearing their teaching, their insights, their testimonies, and then watching them minister in their gifts, I often crawl back home feeling like a totally inadequate servant of God.

That’s why Paul tells us never to compare ourselves to others because we will end up thinking too much or too little of ourselves. By the grace of God I usually recover in a few days and get on with being who God made me to be for the moment with a vision for more.  But, I can absolutely identify with Timothy.  Paul had to encourage him at times to speak with authority, to stir up the spiritual gifts that had been deposited in him, to step up in his leadership roles, and, at times, to not give into fear.

An amplified translation of the verse above might read, “Timothy, quit standing in the shadows. Quit holding back. Get busy exercising and developing the spiritual gift that was imparted to you through my hands. Step up and use it because God has not given you a spirit of fear or cowardice but of power – the same power that created the universe and that raised Jesus from the dead.  He has also given you a spirit of love and any spiritual gift exercised out of love for God’s people is powerful and life changing. And remember, He has also given you a spirit of sound thinking and self-discipline so don’t let your emotions rule you – especially doubt and fear.”

In Timothy’s case, his fear may not have been the fear of man and much as the fear of inadequacy. I think that form of fear restrains most of us and keeps us from becoming world-shakers ourselves.  We forget that spiritual gifts, like muscles and skills, must be developed and to be developed they have to be exercised.  Too many of us sit back and pray that God will give us a fully developed gift of healing, prophecy, leadership, teaching, worship, etc. and as soon as we feel that anointing settle on us we’ll get out there and start using that gift to change the world. God usually doesn’t operate in that way. To do so would be like giving a nine-year old the keys to a 650 horsepower Shelby Cobra and telling them to take it for a spin whenever he feels like it. Not a good idea.

If you have the Spirit of God in you, then you should have dreams of doing great things in the Kingdom of God because that greatness is in your spiritual DNA. If you have the dream, there is a good chance the Spirit is revealing your potential future and that the gifts are already in you for that destiny.  But they must be exercised, coated with love, and used with wisdom to produce their greatest fruit.

So, let me encourage you.  Stop standing in the shadows being held back by the fear of inadequacy because it is God who makes us adequate.  Let your sound mind rule your emotions and step out.  Fan into flame the gifts that are in you. Start exercising them today.  Don’t worry about making mistakes. You’re growing.  You’re practicing.  It’s always good to go to conferences, read another book, or ask for another impartation.  It’s always good to go after “more,” but God won’t give us more if we are not using what we already have.  And remember, the power that spoke worlds into existence and raised Jesus from the dead is literally resting in you waiting to be activated for those who will not give into fear.

One of my favorite movies of all time is the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire.  The movie is based on a true story that revolves around two British athletes competing in the 1924 Olympics and is a great study of spiritual motivations.  One of them, Eric Liddell, was a Scottish runner who had a tremendous faith and was destined to die in the mission field in China some years later.  His sister was also a very committed believer who thought that her brother should give up his “foolishness” of running track and get on with the Lord’s work in the mission field. In the movie, she asked him why he ran and he gave a riveting reply.  He said simply, “God made me fast.  And when I run I feel his pleasure.” Liddell believed that if God gave you a talent then you must use it because with every God-given talent there is a divine purpose.

In that one compact statement Liddell offered a profound theology for spiritual gifts in the Christian life. Paul dedicated three chapters to spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14.  He mentions them in other letters as well but in this section he gives us a theological grasp of the “charismata” or gifts and their purpose. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts (capacities or talents) to each believer and each is given to build up the body of Christ.  These are not given randomly by the Spirit but strategically based on the destiny you have been assigned in Christ.  The Psalmist tells us that God was involved in crafting us from the womb.  There he created our inner being and ordained all of our days before one of them came to pass (Ps.139).  In the New Testament, Paul tells us that 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).

If we connect those texts, we discover that God has established a destiny for each of us that he calls “good works which he prepared in advance.” He has intentionally crafted you with talents, temperament, and spiritual gifts designed to perfectly match that destiny.  We are each born with a personality or temperament unique to our calling.  We all have talents or abilities in the natural realm that can be used for God’s purposes like Eric Liddell’s ability to run.  Once an individual has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, he receives the Holy Spirit and the Spirit then gives that believer a spiritual gift or gifts that completes his equipping so ta the can fulfill his destiny.

God equips you with gifts and ordains opportunities for you through which you can make an impact for the kingdom of God.  These gifts are typically granted in seed form and must be nurtured and developed to accomplish all that God has ordained for you.  Each time you encounter your ordained opportunities, you have the freedom to step into that opportunity or turn it down.  You can bear fruit or remain barren.

We are told that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work within each of us. Much of the power will be expressed through our spiritual gifts. The question most often asked at this point is, “How do I know what my spiritual gifts are?”  Eric Liddell gave us two great indicators.  What are you good at and do you feel God’s pleasure as you do it?  Another facet of feeling God’s pleasure is simply being aware of any desires for spiritual gifts that he has deposited in your heart.

Paul tells us that we are to “eagerly desire” spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 14:1).  It stands to reason that the Holy Spirit will create a hunger or desire in your heart for gifts that you have been destined to receive.  As the hunger rises, you will begin to think about that gift.  You will begin to ask God for that gift.   You will begin to read about the gift you desire and search out others who have that gift.  You will ask them to help you understand the gift, develop it, and even how to receive it.  Then you will begin to receive opportunities to use that gift and in doing so you will develop that capacity so that it bears fruit.  Then as you use it, you will experience a profound sense of fulfillment – God’s pleasure.

There are all kinds of spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and Romans 12 and a few other places in the N.T.  There are many spiritual gifts not even listed in scripture.  Some spiritual gifts have been deposited in you and you eventually notice that something has developed in you that is bearing fruit in the kingdom of God. Others will come as you hunger after them and ask God for a specific gift. Some come through impartation and the laying on of hands by someone who already possesses the gift.  As we eagerly desire gifts, God is willing to give.

Spiritual gifts bear fruit in the spiritual realm.  That realm is eternal so the fruit is eternal.  Some gifts are given for one season of your life and other gifts show up during different seasons.  These spiritual gifts are talents that have been entrusted to you for your destiny.  The “parable of the talents” teaches us that if we are faithful to develop and use these gifts in whatever “good work” God sets before us, God will grant us greater gifts and greater opportunities later.

There is power in these gifts. Not just the gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, etc. but in all the gifts.  Exercise the ones you already have faithfully while you pray and wait for other gifts you also desire. Make sure your motive for the gift is not power or notoriety for you, but rather a desire to be effective in the kingdom of God.

Don’t be afraid to step out as you develop new gifts. Like everything, it takes time and experience to excel in your gifts.  In one form or another, God made us all fast.  And when we run, we will feel his pleasure.

After 30 years of pastoral counseling and working through my own “issues,” I am convinced that nearly every personal struggle walking into a pastor’s or therapist’s office has been birthed out of a negative self image.  Most of us come into the world hungering to know who we are.  Our view of ourselves is shaped by the responses of those around us. We ask a few basic questions in a multitude of ways.  Who am I?  Do I matter?  Does my life have significance? Am I worthy of love? Am I competent? Do I belong?

These basic questions begin to be answered immediately after existing the birth canal.  When I cry, do I matter enough for someone to comfort me, feed me, or change me?  Am I loveable enough that people fuss over me or hold me close?  Do I have enough significance that I am protected and nurtured?  When I am cared for,  fussed over,  and played with, the answer to these essential questions is “Yes.”  A lack of these parental responses or blatant neglect and abuse trumpets a huge “No” to these questions. A huge “No” breads all kinds of issues in the life that individual.

As we get older the refrigerator door becomes littered with crayon scrawls that we pushed into our mother’s face asking if she liked each one (our way of asking if we are competent or capable).  As we get older we measure our worth by the number of friends we have on Facebook, the number of parties we are invited to in junior high, the number of accolades we place in scrapbooks or see in our high school annual.

For the rest of our lives we are still scanning the horizon for clues about who we are and if we matter.  After forty years of marriage couples still ask one another, “Do you love me?” which is code for, “Am I still worthy of love and do I still matter?”  Many humans go to their graves with unhealed wounds because a father or mother never said “I love you” or I’m proud of you.”

God crafted us and understands more than anyone our deep need for confirmation that we matter, that we are capable people, and that our lives have significance.   Even the Son of God needed to hear, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Our heavenly Father spends a great deal of time in scripture answering each of those questions for us.  They are answered with a resounding “Yes” for every person in Christ.

They were answered first by the cross where our heavenly father paid the ultimate price to retrieve us from the enemy.  Beyond that we have been pursued, adopted, grafted into his beloved Israel, declared to be the righteousness of God, appointed as ambassadors of Christ, seated with Christ in heavenly realms, honored to be kings and priests on the earth, given the very presence of God to live within us, granted immediate access to the throne room of the creator of the universe, promised that our Father will never leave us nor forsake us, given purpose and destiny by the King of Kings, and given supernatural gifts that surpass any earthy talent that can displayed on a stage or in any arena.  On top of that we have been made more than conquerors and will sit in judgment on angels.

Think about who you are in Christ.  You matter. You belong. You have an amazing  destiny written in heaven.  The Holy Spirit lives within you, so are supernatural.  You are a son or daughter of the creator of the universe. You are his appointed representative on the earth.  You are flat amazing! God says so. Take that knowledge with you wherever you go today.