Worship is Greater Than War
Paintball.
I remember the first time I played. Myself and a few of the guys I worked with got a group together and headed out to this massive outdoor paintball complex. Once there, we selected our guns, bought enough paint to last for a few hours and got our gear on. After meeting some other random guys that were there to play, it was time to go to war.
The first course we played was within a mini city made out of plywood. It. Was. Awesome. Well, it was awesome walking through and seeing how massive this place was. But once the whistle blew and the paint began to fly, the sound of how hard it was hitting the outside of the walls of my “second story” position made me rethink my decision of playing. And then it happened… My friend I was positioned with took three shots to the face region right in front of me. The first shot hit him on the region of his mask. But his mask had five slits in it over his mouth so that it wouldn’t fog up. That was great for his breathing. But when the paintball made impact, it splattered all over the inside of his mouth. As he tasted the paintball, it caused him to turn his head at which point the second and third shots hit him on his neck. As he grabbed his neck he yelled out, “I’m hit!” It was like a scene in a movie.
As this dude walked by me to leave the field of play, I could see two massive welts left by the impact of the paintballs on his neck. And as I climbed down the ladder to the first story, I grabbed my other friend who was with me, told him “Nick was gone” and it was just us, and let him know we had to get out of there. Now, as we were exiting where we were at, I made sure he was out in front of me as we moved from building to building… I mean, he was much larger than I was and a better shot. Eventually we were both overrun and taken out. In fact, our entire team of 16 year olds were systematically shot so quickly that I’m sure we were playing against a team who I’m sure could have gone pro. It didn’t matter what we did, who we decided to put out in front of us to try to stop them, each game we played against them they destroyed us as we tried to do battle. They ran straight through us each and every time.
War. It’s something we see talked about in the Bible as well. But the war we read about has much greater consequences than what I experienced in my small paintball war as a sixteen year old. Check this out:
Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. - 2 Chronicles 20:2
And then King Jehoshaphat said to God,
Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. And all of the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord. - 2 Chronicles 20:12-13
Can you imagine standing there? Your wife. Your children. Standing next to you. Knowing that an enormous army was on their way to destroy you and your family. And as they stood there, they waited for God to answer them. And as God answered them through Jahaziel who told them not to be afraid. In fact, he said that the battle wasn’t theirs, it was God’s. He told them that they wouldn’t even have to fight this battle…
‘“You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’” - 2 Chronicles 20:17
And so, early in the morning they left to head out to the battle field. And Jehoshaphat said, “Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” (2 Chronicles 20:20)
And after consulting with the people, Jehoshaphat developed a plan. And what was the grand battle plan? Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and praise Him for His holiness and he placed them at the head of their army as they went out to meet the enemy that was coming to destroy them! What!? I’m sure General Patton wouldn’t have approved! But that’s ok. Because King Jehoshaphat knew that…
Worship is greater than war.
Jehoshaphat knew that worship is a weapon that the Lord uses to fight for us. You see, Jehoshaphat was faced with what seemed like an impossible battle. And in the face of what seemed like complete destruction, we see him seek the Lord in prayer and confess his complete powerlessness to do anything. And God responded to him through Jahaziel telling him, “the battle is His, do not be afraid, stand firm, hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.” And Jehoshaphat and the people responded by worshipping the Lord. And then drawing courage from the Lord, and in their trust and obedience to the Lord, they went out to battle with praise and worship on the front lines.
You and I may not fight the same type of war that Jehoshaphat faced. But we all will come face to face with our own battles. And the Lord wants each of us to know that worship is greater than war. Worship is greater than the battles we face. And it’s through our worship that God fights for us.
You see, it is not up to us to slay the giants, to move the mountains, or even to part the waters. It is not up to us to fight our battles alone and defeat the enemy by ourselves. We are called to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And to worship Him alone. When we do this, He promises that He will be with us and fight our battles for us. Whether it is doubt or depression. Fear or failure. Whether it is rejection, frustration, anxiety or insecurity. In the waiting, the wondering, and even the reality, God wants to show us His power, His grace, His faithfulness, and His love throughout every season we face. And He wants us to know that worship is greater than the battles we face… He wants us to know that worship is a weapon that the Lord uses to fight for us.
And when we worship the Lord, a few things happen inside us. First, We remember who God is, what He has accomplished through Jesus. And when we are reminded who God is and what He has accomplished through Jesus, we’re comforted by the Spirit of God whom Jesus gave us when we trusted Him as our Savior. Second, What we know to be true in our minds flows into our hearts, and we’re able to engage the Lord with both our heads and our hearts. It’s not based on feelings, but coming into agreement with God at both a head and heart level. And third, “Spiritual power is released and we find peace and rest from oppression from the enemy.” - Matt Chandler
Worship is one of the greatest weapons against the battles we face. When we worship, God fights for us and prevents the enemy’s attempt to take over our hearts and minds. And we’re able to focus on our relationship with God and His love for us and deflect the attack of the enemy.
Worship is greater than war. It’s greater than the battles we face. And when we see people worshipping, especially in their time of need, we are physically seeing God fighting for them. And when we worship the Lord, we are worshipping the God who fights for us.
The Call to Obedience
Obedience.
Just reading or saying that word might make you feel some type of way. When I was a kid, I had to obey at home. I had to obey at school. And by the time I reached my teenage years, I just wanted to do what I wanted to do.
Now, as a parent, I expect and want obedience from my children. So many times Jami and I find ourselves saying, "I just want them to simply obey what we're asking of them. If they would just obey..." And most of our arguments in our house stem from their lack of obedience. If you're a parent, I'm sure you can relate.
Obedience.
Whether you're an adult or a student, it's a word that elicits a number of feelings. And it seems that whether you're a student or an adult, there are what seems to be countless people in our lives that expect obedience from us... including new expectations of obedience from our government. So, now when we hear or see the word obedience, it brings up negative feelings and/or feelings of rebellion.
Obedience can be tough. Especially when you don't respect the person asking for it, or you don't think they have your best interest in mind. And then there are some of us when we think of the word obedience we automatically go into the mindset of, "You're not the boss of me."
And so, when we hear that God wants our obedience... When we hear that we're supposed to obey God... We've already got all these negative associations with the word. And we think, "God's not the boss of me." But obedience doesn't have to be associated to a negative ball of emotions where we simply obey because we think we have to. I've come to the conclusion that when I struggle with obedience, it's because I have a problem with the people asking for my obedience. It's because I don't trust them.
And when I was first told that I'm supposed to obey God and His Word, I was skeptical. I thought, "He doesn't know me. He has no clue what I'm about." But what I've found as I've grown in my relationship with God is that I was skeptical because I didn't know who God was and is. I had no clue what He was and is about. As I read more and more of God's Word, to learn more about God is to learn more about being obedient to Him. And as we learn more about being obedient to Him, a few things naturally happen.
First, as we seek to be obedient to God, we have our eyes opened to the goodness of His Word.
Psalm 119:18 says,
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
You see, if we're going to be obedient to God, we need to read His Word and pray that He will open our eyes to see all of the wonderful things in His Word. And as we read God's Word and ask Him to show us His love and wonderful things in His Word, our desire to be obedient to God will grow more and more.
Second, we will be blessed and be a blessing to others.
But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. - James 1:25
When we read God's Word and actually put it into practice, God will bless our actions and our obedience. Not only will we experience God's blessing, but others will also experience God's blessing through us.
Third, it's in our obedience to God that we will find our greatness. Check this out:
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:19
You see, I believe that God doesn't care about how great you are in as much as He cares about how obedient you are to His voice. Over the last year and a half, as I've read God's Word and have honestly prayed to Him, I've realized again what God is calling me to. It's a life changing, God-sized calling. It's a calling that is bigger than I could ever dream of. And a few months ago, as I was mowing my front yard, I was again praying and telling God that I simply want to be obedient to what He's asking me to do. And so, as I mowed, this was the discussion I had with God...
Me: "Lord, I just want to do what you want me to do."
God: "Ok. Then mow your neighbor's front yard."
Me: "What? That's not what I was talking about."
God: "I know. But it's what I want."
Me: "But God, I was talking about something else."
God: "I know. But it's what I'm talking about now."
Me: "But God. I mean I want to obey you in the big areas."
God: "Ya. And so do I. But I also want you to obey in the small areas too. The areas you think don't matter."
And as I finished mowing my front yard, I went over to my neighbor's house and asked if I could mow the front yard. And as I began speaking with her, she began to tell me how thankful she would be as she couldn't get her push mower to work. Had I not listened to God's prompting... Had I not been obedient in this seemingly small thing, my neighbor would have continued to struggle. You see, you can’t pray, "God may I be obedient to You" and then choose not to be obedient. He will always give you an opportunity to be obedient. But you might just miss the opportunity because you think it is too small.
Finally, being obedient to God also builds our character and faith. You see, obedience is easy when there's a clear path... a clear direction. But being obedient to God when there's absolutely no path that's visible to the human eye is character building... it's faith building... it's another level of relationship building between myself and Jami's relationship with Jesus. And it brings to life Psalm 130:5:
I will wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope.
Craig Groeschel said, "A waiting season is never a wasted season." It's easy to look out and see no clear direction or movement to what God has called us to do and want to take things into our own hands and make it happen ourselves. But sometimes, maybe even oftentimes, God is calling you to wait... He is telling you to wait. And the waiting is what He wants you to be obedient to... Because even in the waiting God is moving.
If you're a parent now, or if you will be a parent in the future, one of the biggest blessings you can give your children is by following the call of God on your life... One of the biggest gifts you can give your kids is to be obedient to God.
Obedience.
All of us will be obedient to the voice in our life that has our attention. I pray that the biggest voice in all of our lives is God's voice.
Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. - Deuteronomy 8:6
No Going Back
A couple of spring breaks ago I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for years… like 20 years. If I’m honest, I didn’t know if I’d ever have the chance or work up the courage to do it. The “something” I did? I went skydiving. That’s right. I willingly jumped out of a perfectly good airplane from 13,000 feet.
My friend Daryl and I had made plans to jump while we were on spring break out in Arizona. So, on the day we were to jump, we drove about an hour to the jump zone. Once there, we literally signed our life away and watched a quick video on how to successfully jump from an airplane, then walked out to get our harness strapped on.
After getting strapped up, we made our walk out to the bus that was going to take us to our plane. As we were driving out to where our plane was, we could see groups of people gliding down with their parachutes floating through the air. I couldn’t believe that that was going to be me in a matter of minutes. Once we got off the bus, we headed towards our plane. Each step I took, I kept telling myself that there was no turning back. My nerves were increasing more and more as I approached the plane.
Once inside the plane, myself and my jump instructor headed all the way back towards the pilot. At this point, my heart was beating a mile a minute. But I kept telling myself that there was no turning back… despite the pilot and plane looking like it had been used in multiple cocaine runs between Arizona and Columbia.
Prior to taking off, my jump instructor had me put on my seatbelt. Then, once we were about 500 feet off the ground, he strapped himself to me and instructed me to take my seatbelt off. I actually asked him why. His response, “Well, if the plane goes down, we’re jumping.” Ya, I guess that made sense.
Once we reached 13,000 feet, the skydivers ahead of me began to jump from the plane. Let me tell you, there’s no preparing for the sight of people throwing themselves out of a plane. I literally saw them jump from the door and watched from my window as they fell towards the earth. And then, it was my turn. The jump instructor told me to scoot closer to the door. And each butt scoot we took, I kept telling myself that I wasn’t going back.
And then… we stood up and crouched at the door of the plane. In my head I kept saying, “I’m not going back. I’m not going back. I’m not going back.” The jump instructor tapped me on my arm. And in one final, “I’m not going back,” I crossed my arms, tilted my head back… and we jumped.
It was the most terrifying, exciting thing I have ever done. I thought we were jumping straight out. But instead, when we jumped, the instructor spun us around backwards and I watched the plane as we fell. It. Was. Amazing.
Once we got back to the hotel, Morgan ran up to me and yelled, “You didn’t die!” as she tearfully gave me a hug.
No turning back. That was the theme of my skydiving trip. That’s what I kept telling myself. And that’s what Moses and the Lord told the Israelites as well.
Check this out:
...the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” Deuteronomy 17:16
You see, just prior to crossing over into the land that God promised to the Israelites, He gave them a prescription on how to live a life that would glorify the Lord. And years before the Israelites asked for a king, God laid out His qualities of a good one. One of the qualities the Lord states is that “The king must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them…”
Upon hearing this at first, you might think, “Horses? Who cares about horses. What does this have to do with being a good king?” You see, during this time in history, Egypt was THE place from where other nations bought their supplies of this animal. If you wanted a strong horse… If you wanted the best horse… You went to Egypt. There was one major problem… This was the place the Lord had just delivered them from slavery 40 years earlier. And, in looking out for His people, Moses tells the Israelites…
…’the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”’
God knew that, if the Israelites went back to Egypt, they would go back to their slavery. He knew that, if the Israelites went back to the familiar, they would go back to a life they had cried out to be rescued from. He knew that, if the Israelites went back to their old way of living, they’d be forfeiting every promise that He had given to them. For the Israelites…
Egypt = Slavery
It’s not that Egypt was all bad. There were things in Egypt that were tempting to go back to. For a king, it would be the type and the style and the amount of horses. For others, it was the food. Still, for others it may have been the majesty of their buildings. None of these things in and of themselves are horrible. But in each of these things is the temptation to turn from the promises of God.
And the same is true for each one of us.
God has sent His Son Jesus to die for each one of us (John 3:16). And through the death and resurrection of Jesus, He has called us to a life outside the captivity and slavery of sin to a promised better life. And each of us has a history that we’re familiar with. A history, that if we return to it, would take us back into our captivity. And as we seek to follow Jesus, there are three areas where we will be tempted to return to our captivity of sin... to forfeit the promises of God.
We will be tempted to go back to what we were thinking. “It’s not that bad.” “It’s just one time.” “Nobody will find out.” “I’m better than them.” And we return to the slavery of our thoughts.
We will also be tempted to go back to what we were saying. The type of language we use. Gossiping about others. Tearing others down. Being discouraging with our words. Speaking out of anger instead of love. And we return to the slavery of our words.
And we will be tempted to go back to what we were doing. Going back to that relationship. Living our lives in our pride. Neglecting our families. Forgetting about God. And we return to the slavery of our actions.
But I want to remind you that God is telling us right now... “You are not to go back that way again.” Instead, God has a better way. Micah 6:8 says,
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Instead of going back to what we were doing, we are to act justly. Instead of going back to what we were saying, we are to love mercy. And instead of going back to how we were thinking, we are to walk humbly with our God.
This temptation to go back to our old ways is ultimately a temptation of the mind. And Paul knew this as he spoke to the church in Philippi. It’s true then and it’s true for each of us now. And this is our encouragement for today…
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
The Turnaround
The Chicago Cubs. I’ve been a fan of this team for as long as I can remember… Sitting on my dad’s lap watching Ryne Sandburg, Shawon Dunston, Andre Dawson and the Penguin, Ron Cey. And throughout the years, I’ve passed this love of the Cubs on to Jami and our kids. Each year, minus the “crazy year,” we try to get to at least one game at Wrigley Field.
So in 2018 we bought tickets to watch the Cubs take on the Washington Nationals. At that time, Bryce Harper played for the Nationals. So I purposely bought tickets in the Bleacher section of Wrigley Field right behind where he was playing in right field. We got to the game super early so we could be one of the first in line to grab our seats. As soon as the gates open, myself and Carter ran up the concourse ramp to secure front row seats against the right field wall. All throughout the game we heckled Bryce Harper and cheered on the Cubs. Unfortunately for us and the Cubs, they got behind early. And by the bottom of the ninth, they were down three to nothing.
As the Cubs took their last at bats in the ninth, the Nationals quickly got the first out. It was looking really bad at this point. Hope was fading. Then, the Nationals recorded the second out. By this time, even the people who turned their hats inside out to be rally caps were losing hope. The moans and groans in Wrigley Field were audible. Hope was fading fast. Then, strike one. Strike two. Hope was all but lost. The batter took a couple of balls… Then, the batter hit a slow rolling ground ball that the second basemen couldn’t pick up in time. The next batter, Contreras, was hit by a pitch. Hope was extended a tiny bit. The next batter worked the count to three balls and two strikes. And after a couple of foul balls was able to get on base by drawing a walk.
The bases are now loaded. And David Bote, a Cub who was fairly unknown at the time came up to bat. A home run now would win the game. The pitcher threw the pitch… Ball one. The next pitch was a strike. Then ball two. The third pitch was for strike two. And hope once again audibly faded in Wrigley Field. Bote fouled off a couple more pitches. Then took a pitch for ball three. How on earth could he take a pitch in a time like this. You could see and hear and feel the prayers of the Cubs faithful in Wrigley Field. And then… It happened… Something so rare that it’s only occurred 15 times in Major League History… Bote hit a walk-off grand slam with two outs to give the Cubs the win over the Nationals. Cubs fans in Wrigley Field that night went from a feeling of total hopelessness to joy and victory.
Hopelessness.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been there… If you’ve ever had the feeling of being hopeless. Maybe you’re at the start of this new school year and you have this feeling of dread and hopelessness about trying to make new friends. Maybe you look out into the world and see all of the chaos and hurt and despair and it overwhelms you to the point of feeling hopeless about humanity. Maybe you look at your relationship with your husband or wife or your kids… and you feel the arguments and hurt deep inside and you don’t know how to make things better… To get to a better place.
Maybe you look at your life and you… Just… Feel… Hopeless.
I get it. But more importantly… God gets it too. And He sees you in your hopelessness and has created a way to take you from hopeless to hopeful.
Check this out, it’s found in 1 Chronicles chapter 4, verses 9 and 10:
Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
We don’t know a bunch about Jabez. This is the only time we read about him in the Bible… But these two small verses tell us two important things. First, the Bible tells us that he’s more honorable than his brothers. We don’t know how much more. We don’t know if his brothers were horrible people or not. It just says that he’s more honorable. And that’s a really important statement considering the situation we find Jabez in. You see, his mother gave him the name Jabez because she gave birth to him in pain. The name Jabez, literally means pain and/or sorrow. In the Jewish culture it’s common to give symbolic names to a child. Additionally in the Jewish culture, the name of a person could also foretell his future. The mother of Jabez gave a vision of what her son’s life would be like… A life filled with sorrow and pain.
I wonder what Jabez was thinking and feeling. He didn’t choose to be in this position. He didn’t choose his name. But Jabez did choose whom he called out to. And as a result, Jabez went from hopeless to hopeful. But how, how did this happen? How did Jabez go from hopeless to hopeful?
First, Jabez called out to the God of Israel, the one true God and asked that God would bless him. He wasn’t shy about it. Jabez recognized that there is only one God and that He is the source of all blessing. And this God is the Father of Jesus Christ, who came down to earth and sacrificed His life for each one of us. If we go to God in prayer, like Jabez did, then we can expect the same blessing that Jabez expected. A blessing that is greater than any material blessing. It’s also a spiritual blessing like good relationships, a compassionate heart, a gentle spirit, good relationships among other things. It’s up to us to go to God and ask for His blessing on our lives rather than chasing the broken promises and blessings that the world tries to offer us.
Secondly, Jabez asked God to enlarge his territory. Now some people think that Jabez was asking for more land… That he was asking God to enlarge his physical territory. But this isn’t what he was asking. In reality, he was asking God to enlarge the territory of his heart. He wanted his spiritual territory to be enlarged. He wanted to reach others for the sake of God’s kingdom. He wanted to bring and claim generations of people for the God of Israel. What do you need to claim or reclaim today in your life? What part of your life do you need to take back from Satan to be able to reach others with God’s message through you? We need to go to God to reclaim those areas in our lives.
Third, Jabez asked for God’s hand to be with him. Jabez recognized that he needed God’s help to lead him in the right direction. He knew that God could and would lead him on the right path in life and keep on that path that is good. Jabez also knew that blessings can only be good things when they are from God’s hand. He also knew that blessings can become curses if they aren’t from God Himself. And the same is true for our lives as well. We should pray that God’s hand would lead us through any and all of life’s circumstances and trials.
And fourth, Jabez asked that God would keep him from harm so that he would be free from pain. Jabez literally means, pain and sorrow. When Jabez is praying, he is speaking against the symbolic nature of his name and the potential vision of what his life could be like. He’s also letting go of the shame that comes along with his name as well. When Jabez went to God in prayer, he went vulnerable, ready for God to turn his weakness and shame around into God’s glory. Does this mean that we will ultimately be free from pain? No. But it does mean that we have a God who will walk with us through our pain and use it for God’s glory and the redemption of humankind through Jesus Christ.
Hopeless to Hopeful.
I don’t know where you’re at right now. I don’t know what side you find yourself on… Hopeless or Hopeful. What I do know is this, praying to the living God is a powerful weapon to help us move from being hopeless to being hopeful. The only reason we see Jabez in the Bible is because he prayed. But Jabez wasn’t using his prayer as a formula to get something from God. He was calling upon God for help… To help him to move from being hopeless to being hopeful. He knew that personal, everyday needs can be brought before God in prayer. And we can do the same thing today, even right now so that God can move us from hopeless to hopeful.
Who Are You
Growing up, I had a few alter egos. For instance, there were times when I would ride my bike and pretend like I was Ponch from the old tv show CHiPs. I’d grab one of my toy guns and holsters, my remote control police car and ride around my block looking for crime. After Ponch, came my alter ego of… Zorro. I actually made a mask out of black fabric to wear, put on a black cape, wore my black sweats and put on a sword from one of my old Halloween costumes. Zorro had a cave to get ready in and so did I… my garage. When it was time to battle evil, I’d walk out through my back yard to the garage, change my outfit, then crawl out through the doggy door in the wall. Once evil was conquered, and I did conquer evil, I’d crawl back through the doggy door, change into my regular clothes, hide “Zorro’s” outfit, then go back to my “regular life.” The last alter ego is actually one that I don’t usually talk about. For years I tried to keep it hidden. The reason? Two words… Wonder Woman. That’s right. You can laugh. But I would pretend that I was Wonder Woman. On one night in particular, I got into character and stood on the couch to do battle. The villain? My brother Tim. I jumped off the couch, grabbed him by the wrist and arm, spun him around and around… and let go. He went flying head first into the wooden coffee table. As soon as I let go I knew there were problems. And when he turned his head around as he was crying all we could see was blood running down his face from just above his eye. My mom and dad scooped him up and headed to the ER where he received a number of stitches. Needless to say, that was the LAST time I pretended to be Wonder Woman.
Alter egos.
These were just a few of the other identities I took on as a little kid. When I put on that mask and cape, I WAS Zorro. When I rode my bike with my toy gun on my side, I WAS Ponch. When I put on those pretend bracelets and threw my brother head first into a coffee table, I WAS Wonder Woman. Over time, as I grew up, these alter egos… Identities, went away. They disappeared. But I noticed that as I got older, they were replaced by other identities that I thought made me who I was… Other identities to give me and my life meaning. Instead of having fun in my pretend identities in my younger years, as I got older it became a serious search for who I saw myself to be. So, when I was a teenager, my identity was found in the idea that I was a baseball player… Not only a baseball player, but a baseball player that had a girlfriend. As I got older into adulthood, I made my identity about what I did for work… How much money I made… The title on my desk.
Essentially, my identity was found in what I was doing. And my value and self worth... How I viewed myself and what I thought about myself as a person was linked to that identity found in what I was doing. So, when I was playing baseball really well, I had a high self-esteem. When I had a girlfriend, my self worth was greater. When my coach or my boss thought I did a great job, I thought my value as a person was greater. “Doing” things well equaled a greater self worth. The problem? I didn’t always play baseball well. I didn’t always have a girlfriend. My boss didn’t always think I did a great job. And my job title wasn’t always what I wanted it to be. And when my identity was found in what I was doing, when I wasn’t doing as great of a job as I thought I should have done, my self worth and self esteem lowered. If I stumbled or dropped a ball, I would call myself clumsy. If I would forget to do something at work or get a bad grade in school, I would call myself stupid. Or if I didn’t have a girlfriend, I would call myself pathetic.
Those are the thoughts I would have about myself. But those aren’t the thoughts that God has about each one of us. Only Satan, the enemy of our lives, would try to make us think that our worth comes from our work. Only the enemy wants us to find our identity in what we do, because he knows that when the lights go dark and the "success" is gone, so is our value. But God has a different thought regarding our identity… One that is found in "being" rather than "doing"… One that doesn’t change because of anything that we do or don’t do. You see, our true identity is based on how God sees us.
And how does God see us? According to the Bible, God sees us as someone who is…
Called
Chosen
Citizen of Heaven
Conqueror
First, God sees you… He sees me as someone who is “Called.” Check this out:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9
You and I were born into sin. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, sin has been an issue on earth. And each one of us was born into that life. And sin produces a darkness that we can’t get out of by ourselves. We can try to be good enough. We can try to do enough to make things right with God, to make us feel better. But there’s nothing we can do by ourselves that will provide a means of escape from the darkness of sin. Only God can call us out of the darkness we find ourselves in. Only God can call us out of the darkness of sin and despair. Only God can call us out of the darkness of an identity based on doing... Based on what we do. And He calls us through His Son Jesus. And God is calling you right now, even as you read this. God is calling out to you right now.
Secondly, God sees you and has chosen you. The very first part of 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that “we are a chosen people…” Ephesians chapter one verses three through fourteen says,
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:3-14
God has chosen you. He has chosen me for Himself. He has adopted us as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. He has chosen us to be children of the living God. Jami and I were able to have a couple of friends pray over us a couple of weeks ago. We’ve had people pray with us before. So going into this we were expecting what we thought was going to be a time of prayer we’ve previously experienced. But it wasn’t. It was something we’ve never experienced before. It was a true gift from God. You see, one friend led the time of prayer. And as he listened to what God was saying, he prayed that out loud. So at one point, he mentioned that God had given new names to people. In the Bible, this isn’t anything new. He gave Saul a new name of Paul. He gave Abram a new name of Abraham. He called Peter, “the rock on which I will build My church.” And then, this friend asked if God was giving me a new name. It wasn’t something I was expecting. But it was something that marked me. And as I thought about it more and more, "chosen" stuck out to me. God chose me. In all of my failures and flaws and ugliness, God still chose me. He chose me as His adopted son through Jesus. But He also chose me to influence and make a difference in the lives of students and families. And God has chosen you as well.
Third, God sees you and I as citizens of Heaven. Philippians chapter three, verse twenty says,
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ… Philippians 3:20
You see, when you are Called… When you are Chosen… When you are adopted sons and daughters through Jesus Christ, our citizenship is found in Heaven. No longer do we set our minds on things of this earth… no longer do we set our minds on our selfish ambitions… No. Those things aren’t important any longer. Our hope and our longing is for God’s glory and praise to be lifted in our hearts and our minds. Our identity is no longer based on doing, it’s found and based in our being… being a citizen of Heaven.
And finally, God sees us as Conquerors. But not just any conquerors. No. But conquerors through Jesus Christ who loves us. Romans chapter eight, verse thirty-seven says,
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37
You see, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ. There’s nothing we can say. There’s nothing we can do. There’s nothing that then enemy can do. Nothing can separate God’s love from us. It’s through God’s love and His strength that we can face any hardship… Any trial… Any let down… Any hurt… And be conquerors because of the love of God and the strength of Jesus Christ in us. When we call on Jesus and accept Him as our Savior, there is nothing that can separate God's love and acceptance from our lives.
God's acceptance of us, and therefore our identity, is not defined by our actions. So we will never be a "failure" when our performance doesn't match our expectations. When we reassign the source of our value and worth to its rightful place, in Jesus Christ, we will be free from the fear of failure or the opinions of others. We will be free from the labels we place on ourselves. And free from the shifting thoughts of our self-worth.
You see, God sees us as…
People who are Called
People who are Chosen
People who are Citizens of Heaven
And people who are Conquerors
The only thing that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks about us. And the identity we find in Him will never change.
It's Ok To Ask For Help
So, the other day I bought an electric hoist to make taking the hard top off the Jeep a ton easier. I found the one I wanted and then Morgan and I went and bought it. I was excited to have this hoist. I mean, we’ve had this Jeep since last October and we hadn’t taken the entire top off. And now, with this hoist, we can make our Jeep completely top free. After bringing it home, it was time to install it. I had watched a lot of YouTube videos on how to put this thing on my ceiling. Jami and I had gone to a few stores in search of a bar that would help reinforce the hoist and make it completely safe to use without worrying about the weight of the Jeep top pulling down our garage ceiling. Once we got the metal bar and screws home, it was game on.
I was a little nervous about being able to safely install this hoist. However, my friend Davis, a fellow Jeep owner, encouraged me and had faith that I could put this hoist up (shout out to Davis!). After reading Davis’ words, I decided to try and pull it off by myself. I prepared all the materials in the garage. Pre-drilled the holes in the ceiling studs that would hold the anchor screws. Grabbed the metal bar. Attached one anchor screw. Attached the second anchor screw. Then the third. And then screwed in the fourth anchor screw. This thing is definitely not coming down. I even placed two spacers on either side of this anchor bar… why? Well, honestly I don’t know why. I saw it done on one of the YouTube videos and thought it made sense.
Now it came time to hang the electronic hoist. I adjusted the ladder to where I needed it to be. Then I grabbed the hoist. I feel like I need to say one thing about this hoist first. You see, as I was walking out of the store with this thing, I commented to Morgan on how heavy it felt in the box. Fast forward to the Sunday after buying this hoist, I picked up the hoist out of the box. Now, I had just had my hands above my head for a bit drilling holes, holding the metal bar and trying to line up the holes in the bar to the holes in the ceiling, then screwing in the four anchor screws. In other words, my arms and shoulders were already tired. So when I pulled the hoist out of the box, it definitely felt heavier than when I bought it. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I grabbed the hoist, made my way over to the ladder, then made my way up the ladder towards the ceiling. I raised the hoist up to where it needed to be hung and then realized quickly that I needed to bring it back down to the ladder. I thought, ok, maybe I just need to rest for a minute. So I brought the hoist back down and laid it back on the chair.
After resting for a few minutes, I tried again. I grabbed the hoist and made my way back up the ladder. Raised the hoist above my head, tried to put one of the bolts in above my head and above the hoist… nope… couldn’t do it. This time I thought maybe it was the position of the ladder. Ya, it had to be that. So I repositioned the ladder and climbed back up. Lifted the hoist above my head and tried to screw it in again. Still couldn’t do it. So I climbed back down. Climbed back up. Then climbed back down. I did this probably ten times almost falling off the ladder twice because the weight of the hoist had shifted in my hand and shoulder. I even asked Jami to help screw in the bolts to the top of the hoist. But because I couldn’t hold it up for very long, and because we couldn’t see the top of the hoist to screw in the bolts, we couldn’t get it done. And then she said ten words. Words I didn’t want to hear. The words?
"Maybe you should ask one of your friends for help.”
What!? I don’t need help, I can do this myself I told Jami. Plus, I didn’t want to bother one of my friends. I was sure they were busy and had other things to do. So back up the ladder I went. And then, back down as quickly as I went up. Five more times, again nearly falling a couple of those times. And then it finally hit me. Maybe I really can’t do this by myself. Maybe I should ask one of my friends for help. So I did what very few guys like to do… I pulled out my phone and sent a text to one of my friends asking for his help. I felt horrible about it. I kinda felt like a failure because I couldn’t do it myself. And I felt like I was putting my friend out, like I was an inconvenience to him. But I sent him a text asking for help anyway. He came over a little later that day, and we installed the hoist in just a few minutes. You see, I just wasn’t meant to put up that hoist by myself. But together, my friend and I put it up together.
After we had the hoist installed and took the Jeep top off, I thought, man life is just like this experience. We run through life, all of its problems and circumstances and we think that we’ve got this. We don’t need help. But life was never intended to be lived alone. It’s always been designed to be lived in community together. Check this out:
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. - Genesis 2:18-22
From the beginning of time, God knew that it wasn’t good for any of us to be alone. He knew that each one of us needs community, we need togetherness, we need people in our lives. Life was never meant or designed to be lived by ourselves in isolation. God’s very design was for us to live in community. But loneliness is a real problem that many of us have felt at one time or another. In a recent study, 36% of all Americans — including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children—feel “serious loneliness.” And it’s only been made worse with COVID. And if that’s you right now, I want you to know two things.
First, Jesus loves you right where you are. Right in your loneliness. Right in your suffering. Jesus loves you. And when you call on the name of Jesus and ask Him to come in your life and save you, He doesn’t leave you alone. He provides you with His Spirit, the Holy Spirit to comfort you. John 14:26 says,
"But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me*—and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you.’ - John 14:26
Second, the church is here for you. It’s filled with people who love Jesus who can provide you with the community you need.
What a wonderful God we have—he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does he do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us. - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
No matter what age you are, the church is a place where you can find hope and healing and community.
Lastly, I think most of us has struggled with the feeling of being alone. Or feeling like we’re a bother if we ask for help with something we’re going through… The struggles we face. The Hardships we have. We just don’t want to bother someone with what we’re going through. Or we think we can get through it ourselves. Whatever we’re going through, we can handle and solve it ourselves. But God has placed people in our lives for a reason. Check this out:
On one of the days while Jesus was teaching, some proud religious law-keepers and teachers of the Law were sitting by Him. They had come from every town in the countries of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there to heal them. Some men took a man who was not able to move his body to Jesus. He was carried on a bed. They looked for a way to take the man into the house where Jesus was. But they could not find a way to take him in because of so many people. They made a hole in the roof over where Jesus stood. Then they let the bed with the sick man on it down before Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” - Luke 5:17-39
What kind of friends do you have in your life? What will your friends do for you? How far are they willing to go to help you? Better yet, what kind of friend are you? What will you do for your friends? How far are you willing to go to help your friends? You see, this dude couldn’t walk. He was paralyzed and couldn’t move his body. Everyone knew that Jesus was in town. Everyone knew that Jesus had the power to heal people. And this paralytic and his friends heard that Jesus was in town too. What did they do? They carried this guy on a bed from their town to see Jesus. The Bible doesn’t tell us how far they came. They don’t tell us how heavy this guy was. How many times they had to stop to put him down to rest. But we do know that this was only half of what they did. They other half? Ya, they tore apart the roof, raised up the guy on the bed to the roof then lowered the guy down to where Jesus stood. These friends did all they could for their friend. They carried him on the road from their town. I wonder what they talked about. They tore up a roof. They knew Jesus was inside and that He could heal their friend. They did everything they could just so their friend could be brought before Jesus. They did all they could to help bring him healing.
You see, life is meant to be lived in community. In a togetherness where we all help to bring healing to each other through Jesus. We’re all struggling with something, it’s up to each of us to be roof-top friends to each other, being willing to be the kind of friend who will do all we can to bring healing in the name of Jesus.
Following Your Dreams
Growing up, there have been a lot of different things that I had dreamed of doing with my life. Depending on what age I was when you’d ask me, the answer would have been different. Like, when I was about four or five, if you would have asked me what I dreamed of doing, I would have told you that I wanted to ride on the back of a trash truck or drive the trash truck that flipped the big trash containers (I called them “dipsee dumpsters”). If you would have asked me when I was between six years old and eight years old, I would have told you that I dreamed of being a police officer. (I really loved watching CHiPs, TJ Hooker and Hunter back in the day.) And when I was nine years old to about 15, I wanted to be a professional baseball player.
As I look back over my life, those were just three of the dreams that I wanted to follow. There have actually been more, but we don’t have enough time to talk about them all. And as you look at your life, you can probably remember some of the dreams you wanted to follow. The reality is, is that we’ve all had dreams we wanted to follow. And most of us, might still have dreams we want to follow. But when I read the Bible, it doesn’t say to follow your dreams. That’s not the call. The call has never been to follow your dreams.
So, what’s the call? Check this out, it’s found in Matthew chapter nine, verse nine:
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9
The call on each of our lives, as it was on Matthew’s life, is to follow Jesus. That’s always been the call. Don’t get me wrong. Having dreams isn’t a bad thing. It’s a great thing to have dreams. But the problem begins when the call to chase the dream drowns out the call of Jesus. The problem begins the moment when our focus is greater on the dream than on the call of God to follow Jesus.
You see, Matthew, he was living the dream. Or at least I think he was for the time he was living. Was he disliked by many Jews? Sure. But he held a lucrative government job for the Roman Empire. He was making some serious dollar bills ya’ll. He was making bank. He was making that coin. And when Jesus walked up to him, he was in the middle of that job collecting taxes. And so, when Jesus rolled up to Matthew and said, “Follow Me,” Matthew had a choice to make. To follow his dream of making a great living working for the Roman Empire. Or to follow the call of Jesus. Matthew chose to follow the call of Jesus and leave everything behind.
The call to follow Jesus.
For some of us, the call to follow Jesus is a call to leave the dreams we have behind because we know those dreams will lead us down a road that will be opposite to what Jesus wants for our life. For all of us, though, the call to follow Jesus is a call to leave our old life behind and start a new life in Christ. Essentially the call to follow Jesus is a call to have an undivided heart. Check this out, Psalm 86:11 says this,
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name. Psalm 86:11
David, the writer of this Psalm, was praying for an undivided heart in order to give all of it to God in his praise. “Heart” in the Bible doesn’t refer simply to emotions, no, it’s referring to the whole person. David was literally praying for help to aim himself in a single direction towards God. You see, David knew that he needed God to direct his life. He knew that his success, his safety and his soul’s satisfaction depended on the God in Heaven, YAWEH Himself. And that’s still true for each and everyone of us today.
When Jesus called Matthew to follow him, it was easy for Matthew to know what Jesus meant… to drop what he was doing and literally begin to follow Jesus. But what does the call to follow Jesus mean in our lives today. I mean, Jesus isn’t physically standing in front of us saying “follow me.” So, if the call to each one of us is to follow Jesus, what does that mean?
First, the call to follow Jesus is a call to turn your heart towards God’s Word. Psalm 119:36 says,
Turn my heart towards your statutes and not towards selfish gain. Psalm 119:36
In other words, live your life in such a way that you truly are asking God to turn your heart to Him each and every day. The call to follow Jesus isn’t a one-and-done call. It’s a daily denying of the desire to be our own boss. To give up the rights to our lives. Jesus Himself said that if we want to follow Him, we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). It’s quite literally asking that God’s Kingdom be worked in and through our lives and that God’s will would be done as well.
Secondly, the call to follow Jesus is a call to be humble. How many of our arguments, fights, contentions and divisions happen because we aren’t humble. For me… it’s almost every single one of them. Our homes, neighborhoods, country and world would be a completely different place if we would simply live our lives out of humility… if we would simply be humble. It was something that Jesus demonstrated when He walked the earth. Philippians 2:8 says,
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8
How much more should we demonstrate humility in each of our own lives. Jesus, God Himself… literally God in the flesh, humbled Himself for each of us… the ultimate demonstration of humility… died for each of us. And it’s in humility that God calls each of us to follow Jesus.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2
Third, the call to follow Jesus is a call to love others. Your neighbor. Your family. Your friends. And yes, even your enemies. Matthew 22:39 says,
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
Jesus was always teaching His disciples to love others. As Christians, we are asked to love not only the people who live next door to us but to love and show compassion to everyone we interact with. A part of being a disciple of Jesus is showing His love to everyone we meet. Everyone. Even our enemies. Matthew 5:44 says,
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… Matthew 5:44
Everywhere we turn the corner, online and on tv, we are consistently watching people hate each other. People going after each other. And then it comes to our lives. How many times have we wished evil on our enemies? How many times have I shown hate towards others? Not everyone is going to like you. Not everyone is going to like me. But one way to follow Jesus is by praying for those that despise us. To Show the love of Jesus to the very people that hate you. To treat them with kindness even if you never get it back in return. Loving people who love you back or first is easy. To love those who hate you, well, that’s what Jesus did which means it’s possible with God’s help that we can too.
And fourth, the call to follow Jesus is a call to worship the living God with our entire heart and mind. Matthew 4:10 says,
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Matthew 4:10
You see, Jesus was tempted just like we are tempted. Satan took Jesus up to the top of a high mountain and offered to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. But Jesus, knowing God’s Word, and showing complete commitment to His Father, told satan to bounce. Jesus’ heart was undivided. He loved and His only worship was of God alone. Satan offered up what looked like a great deal if Jesus only worshipped him. But Jesus knew that the true reward lies within His worship of the living God. Satan does the same thing with us… consistently tempting us with the attractive riches of this world. But our true reward, our greatest reward lies within our worship of the living God and His Son, Jesus. John 4:24 says,
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:24
Worship, praise and thanksgiving should be an everyday part of the follower of Jesus routine. When we pray to God, we shouldn’t forget to worship Him for everything He has done for us. Our worship should be an ongoing event as we live every day. Our worship of the living God should be continually in our mouths, in our hearts and in our minds.
The call of God. It’s a call to follow Jesus each and every day of our lives. It’s a call that each of us can choose to answer or to ignore. God doesn’t call us to follow our dreams. He calls us to follow Jesus. And when we do, new dreams are born. Heavenly dreams found in Jesus Himself.
The Uniform You Wear
I. Loved. Getting. Dressed. To. Play. Baseball.
The pants. The jersey. The baseball cleats. And most of all… the stirrups. You see, the stirrups are what goes over the baseball socks. When I was growing up, these were a separate piece of the uniform. I used to love getting my baseball uniform. I looked forward to it each summer. I’d literally get dressed hours before a game just so I could wear my baseball uniform. Then, if I made the all star team, that meant another pair of special stirrups and another jersey… that if you simply wore an under sleeve with the baseball pants and the blue stirrups, everyone at the park knew what team you were on… it was a label of honor… proof that I was chosen for that team.
Uniforms. We all have worn one at some point in our life. Some of us still wear them today. Whether it’s for a sports team, a school uniform, or a uniform for work. We’ve all worn a uniform. Uniforms mark us. They say some things about us. Some uniforms we love to wear. We’re proud of how we look. And there are other uniforms we think are ugly. I’ve worn uniforms that I’ve loved. And I’ve worn uniforms that I’ve hated. Kroger, it was a great first job. But I hated the poop-brown uniform.
Uniforms. We’ve all worn them. And we all wear them now to a certain extent.
And I wonder, what kind of uniform do you suit up in? Each day, what uniform are you putting on? Is it a uniform of fear? Is it a uniform of worry? I want to ask you a question. Every time you wake up, what uniform are you putting on? Are you putting on a uniform of fear? You hear that voice that ‘you’re all alone and nobody is with you.’ Or do you put on a uniform of guilt and shame and you think you’ve done too many things that prevent you from making a difference or from God using you. Or maybe you put on the uniform of insecurity that tells you you’re not good enough or equipped to be the parent you want to be… the husband or wife you want to be… the employee you want to be… or the servant of God you want to be. How on earth can I do this? Maybe it’s a uniform of doubt. God surely can’t use me.
Every day you wake up, the enemy will try to get you to put on any other uniform other than the spirit of God and confidence and truth. The problem is, is that when we put on any other uniform of shame or guilt or incompetence or insecurity, then when we wake up we aren’t living our lives with authority, we’re not living with joy and confidence. We’re not parenting in a spirit of joy and confidence. Our relationships aren’t lived out of joy and confidence. But we should be the most joy-filled confident people on earth. God wants you to live your life in confidence and joy. And when we put on a uniform other than God’s uniform, I believe it breaks His heart every time we listen to the voice of the enemy as we live our lives.
I hope this doesn’t overwhelm you, but as a follower of Jesus, we are called to a life that shifts our community around us… to shift our children’s worlds… to shift the worlds of those we are in relationships with. He’s made us to bring heaven down to earth. God has given us that authority as believers in Jesus. And if you’re not a believer in Jesus quite yet, this is what God wants of you when you do become a believer in Jesus. But each time we wake up and put on a uniform of fear or insecurity or of shame we forfeit the opportunity to release joy, freedom, passion and love in the lives of those we do life with. And we weren’t created to wear a uniform other than the one God created for us to wear.
So how do we become people who wear the uniform God wants us to wear? You see, how you suit up when you wake up matters.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6:10-11
This is the uniform God has for us to wear… the full armor of God. But that’s easier said than done right? So how can we daily put this armor on? How do we develop confidence to suit up?
First, don’t let your circumstance change your attitude or your confidence. Gideon, in Judges chapter six, battled insecurity and had a million reasons why he shouldn’t lead the Israelites. For seven years the Midianites demolished the Israelites stuff. When the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites invaded the country. When they invaded the country they ruined all of the crops and killed all of their livestock. For seven years this happened because of the evil that the Israelites did in the eyes of the Lord. So when the Israelites cried out to God for help, He sent them Gideon. So an angel of the Lord came to Gideon and said, “Yo, you’re the guy that’s gonna help conquer the Midianites." The angel of the Lord actually said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior.” Have you ever felt that God has called you something like that and you’re like, “What, really? Me?” And then Gideon says, “But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Gideon also says, “But how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” Excuse after excuse after excuse. But the Lord replied to Gideon and said, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Have you noticed that God tends to use the least over and over again throughout the Bible?
The very first thing that Gideon does is look at his circumstances. And this will be a temptation that you and I might do every time the Lord calls us to do something great or of great significance. The first thing that I do a lot is look at my circumstance and say I’m not good enough. I don’t have the influence. I don’t have the platform or the job title for that. And my circumstances become my excuse of why I can’t do what God has called me to do. The first thing that the enemy wants us to do is to think about our circumstances. When God calls you to do something great, the enemy will use every little thing to distract you from that great thing that God has called you to do. The enemy loves to distract us. But we can’t look at our circumstances and allow it to change our attitude and confidence. Even in the worst circumstances, God can do His best work. So don’t let your circumstances change your attitude and confidence. God is bigger than your circumstances.
Secondly, recognize the lies the enemy is telling you and replace them with God’s truth. Ninety-nine percent of the battle is fought in our own minds… what we believe or don’t believe about our own selves. And so we need to start to recognize the lies that are being fed into our minds by the enemy and replace them with God’s truth. Like, when you think you aren’t good enough or you’re nobody special, you think about and quote:
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Or, when you start believing in the lie that you’ll never do anything of any significance, start to think about and quote:
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Or, when the enemy starts to tell you that you’ll never overcome this fear, read and quote:
2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
I don’t know what your lie is or what you’re facing. For me, it’s that I’m not good enough or smart enough and that God can’t use me because of my past. But those are lies from the enemy that I need to recognize and replace with the Truth from God’s Word.
And the third way to put on the uniform God has for us is to allow God to stretch us. You see, there are times where or what God calls us to will make us uncomfortable and/or nervous. As I look out over my life, specifically the last 20 years, there have been times where I’ve resisted the call of God because it would have made me uncomfortable. Instead of saying yes to the call of God, I said yes to the other thing that made me comfortable. You see, sometimes chasing after the comfortable could be you running from the call of God. And that was me 20 years ago… chasing after the comfortable. I think this came from TikTok, but over the last year or so, Morgan has wanted Jami and I to have a “yes day” where anything she asks for we have to say “yes” to. What would happen if we gave God “yes days?” No matter how uncomfortable we may feel, no matter how insecure we feel, no matter the fear we feel, we instead of saying no to God, we say yes to God. When we give God our yes, He in turn gives us confidence and blessing. Being obedient to God brings blessings to our lives and the lives we interact with. Can you imagine how different the world would be if we simply said yes more to God. I don’t know what God is calling you to do, but I encourage you to say yes. Give God a “yes day.” It may be scary, but it is always good.
You see, God wants us to have an Ephesians 3:20 life. Check this out:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Ephesians 3:20
God wants to do some crazy extraordinary things with your life. And if you’re obedient, I believe He will bring incredible blessing to your life as a result. Learn to put on God’s uniform in your life and to cultivate this God-confidence. Don't let your circumstances change your attitude and confidence. Recognize the enemy's lies and replace them with God's Truth. And allow God to stretch you and keep saying yes to God. That's how to wear the uniform God has called you to wear.
What Is It?
I miss the younger years of parenting. Not me being younger. But the kids being younger. Don’t get me wrong, I love parenting teenagers. As a parent, that’s my sweet spot. But I miss when they were two, three, four and five years old.
When they were that young, everything was new to them. And it was fun helping them experience those new things. Like jumping off the side of a pool. As a parent, you know the fun and joy they will experience. But for them, they haven’t experienced that joy quite yet. And so their focus was on the fear they feel. They’d look at me. Look at the ledge and the drop to the water. Then they’d look back at the cement they were standing on and would start to walk backwards to what was familiar. But after a few words to make them feel better and helping them “jump” into the water, they’d eventually trust their mommy and daddy and jump themselves.
Then, in the very same summer after trusting their daddy and jumping into the pool, I remember taking a trip to a water park with friends. You know what’s at water parks, right? Yup. Water slides. Once again, as a parent, I could look at that slide and my kids and know the joy they’d experience going down that slide into a pool of water. So I took the kids up to the top of the slide, talking up the excitement and how fun and cool it was going to be to slide down the water slide into a pool of water. But once we got up to the top of the slide, fear crept back in and they insisted on not going down the water slide. They instead wanted to go back down the stairs to the familiarity of what they already knew.
I don’t suggest this as a parent, but when Carter was four or five, I actually picked him up, sat him down, then pushed him down the slide as he screamed throughout the process. Once down, he came running back up to go down the slide by himself.
Time and time again through different experiences our kids would have to learn to trust and depend on their parent over and over again even though we’d proven trustworthy through previous experiences. Time and time again they’d crave and desire the familiar over choosing to depend and trust the call of their mommy and daddy. That doesn’t change with age. And it hasn’t changed throughout the years. What is true now, was and is true hundreds of years ago.
Check this out:
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. Exodus 16:1-3
Facing the question of where their next meal would come from made them question everything. The Scripture says, “they grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” I believe this is the first reference to a people being “hangry.” Only, it was more than simply being hangry. The Israelites actually wished they were back living as slaves in Egypt.
At this point, the Israelites had already experienced a number of miracles from the Lord. He had turned bitter water that they couldn’t drink into sweet water by having Moses throw a piece of wood into the water. And bigger still, they had just witnessed the Lord parting the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to walk across on dry land with a wall of water to their right and to their left. Once the Israelites had crossed, the Lord allowed the sea to flow again, washing the entire army of Pharaoh to their death.
But now, instead of trusting and having faith in the Lord, they begin to worry that they would die in the desert from hunger and they began to wish for the familiarity of what they had known. And they Lord heard the Israelites grumbling.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. Exodus 16:4
Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Exodus 16:8
In the midst of their worry and their grumbling the Lord heard them and decided to provide for the Israelites once again even as they were grumbling against Him. But this is the Lord’s character. You see, back in Exodus 13, as the Israelites were leaving Egypt, God decided to lead them on a longer path through the Red Sea instead of a shorter path through the land of the Philistines because God knew that if the Israelites faced war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.
Even when the Israelites didn’t know it, God was still looking out for and taking care of them. And, in the midst of their fear and grumbling of where their next meal would come from, God would still keep that commitment to the Israelites.
As I look back over my life, there have definitely been times where I can see how God took care of me… exactly when I didn’t even know it. Protection from dumb decisions I made as a teenager. Doors closing which led to better doors opening. The list could go on and on. And I’m sure, if you look back on your life, you would see the same thing.
So, here the Israelites are. Grumbling against a God who has already provided visual miracles for their safety. Grumbling against a God who had already provided protection that they didn’t know about. And now, Aaron is standing before them, speaking to the whole Israelite community. And as they looked toward the desert… the desert they’d be wondering through for 40 years… and what did they see?
The glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. Exodus 16:10
In the midst of their fear. In the midst of their grumbling. In the midst of their worry and their desire to just go back to what is familiar. In the midst of their desert, the Lord God was there with them. What is true hundreds of years ago is still true today. While God was with the Israelites in their desert, God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit is with us in our desert. You see, God doesn’t just lead us through our desert, He’s there with us in it.
And then the Scripture goes on to say…
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” Exodus 16:13-16
The word, manna, literally means, “What is it?” That’s what the Israelites first reaction to what the Lord provided. Manna is the clear example of the Israelites’ dependence on God was. They had to rely on Him every day for 40 years just to survive. But this isn’t anything new, it’s just different. They had to rely on God to change Pharaoh’s mind to let them go. And when Pharaoh freaked out and changed his mind again, the Israelites had to rely on God to escape from Pharaoh’s army. Time and time again we see the Israelites’ dependence on God while in their desert. And when God says, “Trust me” to the Israelites one more time, we see them again wanting to go back to the familiar out of fear and worry. But God, each time, provided for the needs of the Israelites with just enough for each day… with exactly what they needed to survive for that day.
You see, what’s true hundreds of years ago, is true now…
God is acting on our behalf even when we don’t know it. God shows up in the midst of our desert. And God provides for all of our needs when we follow His Word, His guidance and keep His commands. I pray that you see the Lord and choose Him and His Word even as you read this now.
Are You Ready
As a kid, I loved looking forward to things that were good… Christmas. Birthdays. Getting my drivers license. My first day going away to college. And before college… the last day to any school year when that final bell rang and you got on that bus for the last time before summer.
Anticipation… for the good things, is a feeling like no other. Anticipation for something that isn’t good is… well… not anticipation… it’s dread. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the feeling of looking forward to something that’s good that’s around the corner. As an adult, this has become counting down the days before a family vacation to our favorite place in the States… Charleston, South Carolina.
Jami and I took a trip there last July for our anniversary… and we fell in love with that place. Now, we’re planning on taking our kids back there this June to see a Charleston Battery soccer game. And we can’t be more excited to show them what we experienced. Including showing Morgan the locations where Outer Banks is filmed! (In all honesty, I’m just as stoked to go back to those locations.)
I really can’t wait to get back to Charleston and take our kids along. I’m sure we all have our stories of anticipation. Childhood stories. Adulting stories. And as we read God’s Word, there’s another group of folks who might have had the same anticipation story as us. Check it out:
So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’” Joshua 1:10-11
For 40 years… FORTY. YEARS. The Israelites had been wandering around in the desert waiting for this moment. For 40 years they couldn’t enter the land that had been promised to them because of their disobedience to God. You see, God promised Abraham that there would be a Promised Land for the Israel nations to come out of his son, Isaac. And after God freed the Israelite slaves from Egypt through Moses, they ran low on their food to live. So much so that they wished they were back in the good old days of slavery in Egypt where they didn’t have to worry about where their food would come from. But God didn’t leave them to starve and instead provided manna to them all.
At one point, God told Moses to send twelve spies into the land of Canaan, one spy for every tribe of Israel. The spies went out and traveled the land for forty days. The spies came back and reported to Moses what they saw. The land was flowing with milk and honey. There were many places to grow food as farmers. But there were also many strong clans of people living there and many of the spies were afraid of them.
Caleb and Joshua wanted to lead the Israelites to take the land right away. They weren’t afraid of the Canaanites. The other spies lied and said that they saw very tall and strong people, some of them the size of giants. When the Israelites heard this, they became angry with Moses for leading them out of Egypt. They were afraid, too, and cursed God for bringing them there. They forgot God’s promise that he would help them.
God was angry with the Israelites for their complaints. They didn’t trust in Him no matter how many signs and gifts He gave to them. Moses prayed for forgiveness on behalf of the people. “Forgive the mistakes of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love,” he prayed. The Lord responded, “I do forgive, just as you have asked, but I will punish this generation of people for their lack of faith. You will wander in the desert for forty years, the same number as the number of days you spied out the land.”
Then, after 40 years, Joshua gives the order to the people… Get ready. You only have to wait THREE MORE DAYS! Can you imagine what they must have been feeling!? What must they have been thinking? The anticipation must have been like they hadn’t felt before.
The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. Moses and the Israelites had to have struggled at times throughout those 40 years. Life was probably hard at times. I don’t know where you’ve been these last 40 years. These last 40 months. Or these last 40 days. Maybe you’ve been through hell. It might have been rough at times. Things might have been a struggle. Life may have certainly been hard and in your life you may feel like you’ve been wandering.
But God is telling you right now that your promise land is waiting for you right now to cross over. God is telling you right now that there is a better life to be lived and that He will provide for you if you will simply put your trust and faith in Him. And while He has a promise land for you to find, just like the Israelites, in order to find it there’s a couple of things God wants you to do to see it.
First, keep your eye on the Word of the Lord and follow it. Then you will know which way to go… you will know how to live.
Joshua 3:3-4 says, “…When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.”
You see, in order to know how to get to our promise land… In order for us to know how God wants us to live, we need to keep His word continuously in front of us. When we do that, then can we know how to get to the promise land He’s provided and how to live.
Second, consecrate yourselves to God. In other words, promise yourself to God and follow Him. Devote yourself to following God. It’s surrendering all of you to all of Him. It’s a simple recognition that every second of your time, every ounce of your energy, and every penny of your money is a gift from God and for God. Consecration is an ever-deepening love for Jesus, a childlike trust in your heavenly Father, and a blind obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Joshua 3:5 says, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
When we consecrate ourselves to God… When we recognize that every second of our time, energy and money is a gift from God and for God, then can He do amazing things with and for and through our lives. Then can we enter the promise land.
I don’t know where you’re at right now. Whether you’re just entering your desert. Or whether you feel like you’ve been wandering for years. But I do know this, God wants you to enter your promised land. He has promised a better way of life. And it’s right around the corner waiting for you.
Can you feel the anticipation? I can. And God can too. The question is…
Are you ready for God's promised land in your life!?