Just wanted to share this devotional with everyone, thought it was meaningful. . .
My Success is not about me, it is About Him
May 20th, 2010
by Max Lucado
With success comes a problem. Just ask Nadab, Elah, and Omri. Or interview Ahab, Ahaziah, or Jehoram. Ask these men to describe the problem of success. I would, you might be thinking, if I knew who they were. My point, exactly. These are men we should know. They were kings of Israel. They ascended to the throne…but something about the throne brought them down. Their legacies are stained with blood spilling and idol worship. They failed at success. They forgot both the source and purpose of their success.
You won’t be offered a throne, but you might be offered a corner office, a scholarship, an award, a new contract, a pay raise. You won’t be given a kingdom to oversee, but you might be given a home or employees or students or money or resources. You will, to one degree or another, succeed.
And when you do, you might be tempted to forget who helped you do so. Success sabotages the memories of the successful. Kings of the mountain forget who carried them up the trail.
The man who begged for help in medical school ten years ago is too busy to worship today. Back when the family struggled to make ends meet, they leaned on God for daily bread. Now that there is an extra car in the garage and a jingle in the pocket, they haven’t spoken to him in a while. In the early days of the church, the founding members spent hours in prayer. Today the church is large, well attended, well funded. Who needs to pray?
Success begets amnesia. Doesn’t have to, however. God offers spiritual ginseng to help your memory. His prescription is simply, “Know the purpose of success.” Why did God help you succeed? So you can make him known.
Why are you good at what you do? For your comfort? For your retirement? For your self-esteem? No. Deem these as bonuses, not as the reason. Why are you good at what you do? For God’s sake. Your success is not about what you do. It’s all about him—his present and future glory.
From It’s Not About Me
© (Thomas Nelson, 2007),Max Lucado
Used by permission
Question: How can you use your success in praise and worship of the Lord?
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
A few quotes about prayer. . .
I saw a quote about prayer on the blog of my friend Peter Mahoney and really liked it. So I grabbed it and decided to post it and then dug up a few more quotes on prayer. Enjoy!
No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying.
-Leonard Ravenhill
Don't pray for lighter burdens, pray for stronger backs.
-African Proverb
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
-Gandhi
To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Pray, and let God worry
-Attributed to Martin Luther (Protestant Reformation)
Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."
-Mark 11: 22-25 (from The Message)
Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
-Ephesians 6:13-18 (from The Message)
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
-Phillipians 4: 6-7 (from The Message)
13-15Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
-James 5:13-16 (from The Message)
Monday, October 19, 2009
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. . .
The sermon at church on Sunday was based on Mark 2:13-17. The text is below:
What an incredible relief! Jesus came for me, not just despite my sins, but because of my sins. This does not mean that I cannot intentionally keep in sinning, but it does mean that Jesus walks with me no matter what I do.
I am already accepted right where I am. Praise God!
The Calling of Levi
13Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
What an incredible relief! Jesus came for me, not just despite my sins, but because of my sins. This does not mean that I cannot intentionally keep in sinning, but it does mean that Jesus walks with me no matter what I do.
I am already accepted right where I am. Praise God!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Guatemala and Global Drinking Water Crisis Message
Last Sunday my church celebrated our mission trip to Guatemala. Seven members of our mission team gave short messages/sermonettes/homilies to share our experience in Guatemala with the rest of Wellshire church. Below is the message I gave, which sort of expounded on the bible study that I led the last day our group was in Guatemala. . . enjoy!
How many of you have had the opportunity and privilege of traveling to Mexico or Guatemala?
How many of you were given the advice “Don’t drink the water?”
Many people believe that advice is just for Americans and that the locals can drink their own tap water.
The sad reality is that is simply not the case. In 90% of cities in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, the tap water that comes out of the tap is so contaminated it would make anyone sick, no matter what your nationality. You see little bugs like salmonella, giardia, fecal coliforms, e coli and others don’t discriminate based on your nationality, anyone who comes in to contact with these little buggers gets sick.
That is a daily reality for the people that live in Guatemala and other developing countries, they can’t just go to the tap and get a glass of drinking water and they have to treat any water they are going to cook with too.
Some facts about the global drinking water crisis:
-More than 1.1 billion people in the world, 1 in 6, lack access to safe drinking water
-More than 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die from water borne illnesses each year, like the equivalent of 16 Boeing jumbo jets crashing each day, no survivors.
-Diarrhea from water borne disease is the second leading cause of mortality among children.
-Poor, urban communities of the developing world pay the highest prices in the world for water.
These are numbers. Numbers and statistics are important for us to try to understand the depth and breadth of a problem, but numbers never tell the whole story.
These numbers have faces, and we had the privilege of looking in those faces each day we were in Guatemala. Many of those faces are the photos I took on the trip in this blog post.
But our trip to Guatemala was not a story of sadness, it was a story of hope, because each one of us who went on the trip to Guatemala and each one of you who prayed for us while we were on the trip. . .
is working to change these numbers and just as important, looking in these faces and building relationships and solidarity with the people that represent these statistics.
As Christians, we are called to help others in the world who are hurting, struggling and not getting their basic needs met. We are called LOUDLY to do this throughout scripture.
In Matthew 25, Jesus states “. . . for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me. . .
Truly I tell you, just at you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
I have felt this call strongly in my life and it has led me to do development work in Latin America as the Field Operations Manager for Healing Waters International.
Each person will respond this call differently, by helping out a neighbor, by working in the soup kitchen or homeless shelter down the street, by traveling to a native American reservation and working there, or by doing global missions.
Each one of these are equally important and equally good responses to that call, but it is so important that we heed that call and like Jesus, actively work to feed the hungry, offer drink to the thirsty, comfort to the lonely, care to the sick.
We could learn statistics about all of these hurting people in our world, and statistics are important to grasp the scope of a problem, like the global problem for safe drinking water.
But we also need to remember that these numbers have faces.
We need to look in those faces and shine the light of Christ through our eyes and treat those in need with the dignity, respect and help that Christ is calling us to do.
So all of this really begs the question: What are you going to do to heed that call?
This is your call to action. In Healing Waters when talking about the global water crisis, we call it the H2OATH:
I encourage you to take your own oath for your own passion and calling for missional work, work outside the walls of this church, work that Jesus comes along side and does with us.
How many of you have had the opportunity and privilege of traveling to Mexico or Guatemala?
How many of you were given the advice “Don’t drink the water?”
Many people believe that advice is just for Americans and that the locals can drink their own tap water.
The sad reality is that is simply not the case. In 90% of cities in Mexico, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, the tap water that comes out of the tap is so contaminated it would make anyone sick, no matter what your nationality. You see little bugs like salmonella, giardia, fecal coliforms, e coli and others don’t discriminate based on your nationality, anyone who comes in to contact with these little buggers gets sick.
That is a daily reality for the people that live in Guatemala and other developing countries, they can’t just go to the tap and get a glass of drinking water and they have to treat any water they are going to cook with too.
Some facts about the global drinking water crisis:
-More than 1.1 billion people in the world, 1 in 6, lack access to safe drinking water
-More than 1.5 million children under the age of 5 die from water borne illnesses each year, like the equivalent of 16 Boeing jumbo jets crashing each day, no survivors.
-Diarrhea from water borne disease is the second leading cause of mortality among children.
-Poor, urban communities of the developing world pay the highest prices in the world for water.
These are numbers. Numbers and statistics are important for us to try to understand the depth and breadth of a problem, but numbers never tell the whole story.
These numbers have faces, and we had the privilege of looking in those faces each day we were in Guatemala. Many of those faces are the photos I took on the trip in this blog post.
But our trip to Guatemala was not a story of sadness, it was a story of hope, because each one of us who went on the trip to Guatemala and each one of you who prayed for us while we were on the trip. . .
is working to change these numbers and just as important, looking in these faces and building relationships and solidarity with the people that represent these statistics.
As Christians, we are called to help others in the world who are hurting, struggling and not getting their basic needs met. We are called LOUDLY to do this throughout scripture. 
In Matthew 25, Jesus states “. . . for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me. . . 
Truly I tell you, just at you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
I have felt this call strongly in my life and it has led me to do development work in Latin America as the Field Operations Manager for Healing Waters International. 
Each person will respond this call differently, by helping out a neighbor, by working in the soup kitchen or homeless shelter down the street, by traveling to a native American reservation and working there, or by doing global missions. 
Each one of these are equally important and equally good responses to that call, but it is so important that we heed that call and like Jesus, actively work to feed the hungry, offer drink to the thirsty, comfort to the lonely, care to the sick.
We could learn statistics about all of these hurting people in our world, and statistics are important to grasp the scope of a problem, like the global problem for safe drinking water. 
But we also need to remember that these numbers have faces.
We need to look in those faces and shine the light of Christ through our eyes and treat those in need with the dignity, respect and help that Christ is calling us to do.
So all of this really begs the question: What are you going to do to heed that call? 
This is your call to action. In Healing Waters when talking about the global water crisis, we call it the H2OATH:-Learn about the problem
-Do something about it
-Tell others
I encourage you to take your own oath for your own passion and calling for missional work, work outside the walls of this church, work that Jesus comes along side and does with us. 
Friday, May 22, 2009
I am finally getting to the end of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson. Below is a bible study I led this morning on Chapter 13, a study on HUMILITY and Psalm 131. (You can read Psalm 131 by clicking on any of this sentence.)
Below is my bible study with quotes from the book:
“Christian faith needs continuous maintenance. . . Psalm 131 is a maintenance psalm. . . two things that Psalm 131 prunes away are unruly ambition and infantile dependency. . .” p. 149
“It is no easier to be a Chinese Christian than to be a Spanish Christian than to be a Russian Christian than to be a Brazilian Christian than to be an American Christian – nor more difficult. The way of faith deals with realities in whatever time and whatever culture.” P. 150
Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
“Our culture encourages and rewards ambition without qualification. We are surrounded by a way of life in which betterment is understood as expansion, as acquisition, as fame. Everyone wants to get more. To be on top, no matter what it is the top of, is admired. There is nothing recent about the temptation. It is the oldest sin in the book, the one that got Adam thrown out of the garden and Lucifer tossed out of heaven. What is fairly new about it is the general admiration and approval it receives.” P. 151
Is ambition a sin? What about ambition to see the success of a ministry? What makes it a sin if you think it is?
“The legend of Faustus, useful for so long in pointing out the folly of a god-defying pride, now is practically unrecognizable because the assumption of our whole society (our educational models, our economic expectations, even our popular religion) are Faustian. ¶ It is difficult to recognize pride as a sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable and rewarded as an achievement.” P. 152
Does our culture value and glorify pride and ambition? If it is a sin, how do we get away from it if it is so embedded in our culture, down to our education system, economic system and popular religion?
Peterson defines aspiration as valuable, but ambition and arrogance as sins. (p. 152-153) How do you make a distinction between these two?
“There are some who conclude that since the great Christian temptation is to try to be everything, the perfect Christian solution is to be nothing. And so we have the problem of the doormat Christian and the dishrag saint. . .” p. 154
How do we strike this balance?
“Our Lord gave us the picture of the child as a model for Christian faith (Mk 10:14-16) not because of the child’s helplessness but because of the child’s willingness to be led, to be taught, to be blessed. God does not reduce us to a set a Pavlovian reflexes so that we mindlessly worship and pray and obey on signal; he establishes us with a dignity in which we are free to receive his word, his gifts, his grace. . . For God does not want us neurotically dependent on him but willingly trustful in him. And so he weans us. The period of infancy will not be sentimentally extended beyond what is necessary. The time of weaning is very often noisy and marked by misunderstandings: I no longer feel like I did when I was first a Christian. Does that mean I am no longer a Christian? Has God abandoned me? Have I done something terribly wrong?” P. 155-156
Is this weaning a one time occurrence or do we go through it again and again?
Because Eugene Peterson mentions having "faith like a child" so much in this chapter, it reminded me of the Jars of Clay Song:
Finally, I took some excerpts from the book and wrote the closing prayer below:
Prayer (p. 153-154): I accept God as my maker and creator; I will strive to grow day by day into an increasingly glorious creature in Christ, developing joy, experiencing love, maturing in peace. I will not try to run my own life or the lives of others; that is God’s business, I will not pretend to invent the meaning of the universe; I will accept what God has shown it meaning to be; I will not strut about demanding that I be treated as the center of my family or my neighborhood or my work, but seek to discover where I fit and do what I am good at.
Have a great weekend!
Below is my bible study with quotes from the book:
“Christian faith needs continuous maintenance. . . Psalm 131 is a maintenance psalm. . . two things that Psalm 131 prunes away are unruly ambition and infantile dependency. . .” p. 149
“It is no easier to be a Chinese Christian than to be a Spanish Christian than to be a Russian Christian than to be a Brazilian Christian than to be an American Christian – nor more difficult. The way of faith deals with realities in whatever time and whatever culture.” P. 150
Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
“Our culture encourages and rewards ambition without qualification. We are surrounded by a way of life in which betterment is understood as expansion, as acquisition, as fame. Everyone wants to get more. To be on top, no matter what it is the top of, is admired. There is nothing recent about the temptation. It is the oldest sin in the book, the one that got Adam thrown out of the garden and Lucifer tossed out of heaven. What is fairly new about it is the general admiration and approval it receives.” P. 151
Is ambition a sin? What about ambition to see the success of a ministry? What makes it a sin if you think it is?
“The legend of Faustus, useful for so long in pointing out the folly of a god-defying pride, now is practically unrecognizable because the assumption of our whole society (our educational models, our economic expectations, even our popular religion) are Faustian. ¶ It is difficult to recognize pride as a sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable and rewarded as an achievement.” P. 152
Does our culture value and glorify pride and ambition? If it is a sin, how do we get away from it if it is so embedded in our culture, down to our education system, economic system and popular religion?
Peterson defines aspiration as valuable, but ambition and arrogance as sins. (p. 152-153) How do you make a distinction between these two?
“There are some who conclude that since the great Christian temptation is to try to be everything, the perfect Christian solution is to be nothing. And so we have the problem of the doormat Christian and the dishrag saint. . .” p. 154
How do we strike this balance?
“Our Lord gave us the picture of the child as a model for Christian faith (Mk 10:14-16) not because of the child’s helplessness but because of the child’s willingness to be led, to be taught, to be blessed. God does not reduce us to a set a Pavlovian reflexes so that we mindlessly worship and pray and obey on signal; he establishes us with a dignity in which we are free to receive his word, his gifts, his grace. . . For God does not want us neurotically dependent on him but willingly trustful in him. And so he weans us. The period of infancy will not be sentimentally extended beyond what is necessary. The time of weaning is very often noisy and marked by misunderstandings: I no longer feel like I did when I was first a Christian. Does that mean I am no longer a Christian? Has God abandoned me? Have I done something terribly wrong?” P. 155-156
Is this weaning a one time occurrence or do we go through it again and again?
Because Eugene Peterson mentions having "faith like a child" so much in this chapter, it reminded me of the Jars of Clay Song:
Finally, I took some excerpts from the book and wrote the closing prayer below:
Prayer (p. 153-154): I accept God as my maker and creator; I will strive to grow day by day into an increasingly glorious creature in Christ, developing joy, experiencing love, maturing in peace. I will not try to run my own life or the lives of others; that is God’s business, I will not pretend to invent the meaning of the universe; I will accept what God has shown it meaning to be; I will not strut about demanding that I be treated as the center of my family or my neighborhood or my work, but seek to discover where I fit and do what I am good at.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
God Smiles when we use our abilities (and when we are smiling too!)
Some happy kids in the Dominican Republic, smiling a lot despite having so little.JJ Gomez, the National Director for Healing Waters/Aguas de Unidad in the Dominican Republic, shared the bible study/reflection below with me. It really resonated with me so I want to share it with you. Enjoy!
GOD SMILES WHEN WE USE OUR ABILITIES
"He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do" (Psalm 33:15 MSG).
After the flood, God gave Noah these simple instructions: "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything" Genesis 9:1,3
God said, "It's time to get on with your life! Do the things I designed humans to do. Make love to your spouse. Have babies. Raise families. Plant crops and eat meals. This is what I made you to be!"
You may feel that the only time God is pleased with you is when you're doing "spiritual" activities like reading the Bible, attending church, praying, or sharing your faith, and that he is unconcerned about the other parts of your life. Actually, God enjoys watching everything you do, whether you are working, playing, resting, or eating. The Bible tells us, "The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives" (Psalm 37:23, NLT)
God especially enjoys watching you use the talents and abilities he has given you. God intentionally gifted each of us differently for his enjoyment. You may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. All of these activities can bring a smile to God's face.
You don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty in creating you. God says, "You have no right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot shaped by a potter. The clay doesn't ask, ?Why did you make me this way?'" (Isaiah 45:9, CEV)
In the film Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric Liddell says, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel God's pleasure." Later he says, "To give up running would be to hold him in contempt." There are no unspiritual abilities, just misused ones. Start using yours for God's pleasure.
"He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do" (Psalm 33:15 MSG).
After the flood, God gave Noah these simple instructions: "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything" Genesis 9:1,3
God said, "It's time to get on with your life! Do the things I designed humans to do. Make love to your spouse. Have babies. Raise families. Plant crops and eat meals. This is what I made you to be!"
You may feel that the only time God is pleased with you is when you're doing "spiritual" activities like reading the Bible, attending church, praying, or sharing your faith, and that he is unconcerned about the other parts of your life. Actually, God enjoys watching everything you do, whether you are working, playing, resting, or eating. The Bible tells us, "The steps of the godly are directed by the LORD. He delights in every detail of their lives" (Psalm 37:23, NLT)
God especially enjoys watching you use the talents and abilities he has given you. God intentionally gifted each of us differently for his enjoyment. You may be gifted at mechanics or mathematics or music or a thousand other skills. All of these activities can bring a smile to God's face.
You don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding your abilities or by trying to be someone else. You only bring him enjoyment by being you. Anytime you reject any part of yourself, you are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty in creating you. God says, "You have no right to argue with your Creator. You are merely a clay pot shaped by a potter. The clay doesn't ask, ?Why did you make me this way?'" (Isaiah 45:9, CEV)
In the film Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Eric Liddell says, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel God's pleasure." Later he says, "To give up running would be to hold him in contempt." There are no unspiritual abilities, just misused ones. Start using yours for God's pleasure.
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