Tag Archives: obedience

“But As For Me” Theology

We’re teaching our children not to go the popular route, not to make decisions based on the popular vote or according to a poll of peers. We’re teaching them to think independently — teaching them “But as for me” theology…

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

“But as for me, I will call upon the Lord, and He will save me” (Psalm 55:16).

“But as for me, I will sing of your power; I will sing joyfully of your unfailing love each morning” (Psalm 59:16),

“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).

Though the world chooses idols, we’re choosing Jesus.

Though it is tempting to put our trust in men, we’re putting our trust in Jesus.

Though it is hard not to give in to depression when reading the headlines, we are delighting in God, because His power is greater.

Though it can be hard not to rush ahead in our own strength out of impatience, we are waiting on the Lord.

What the world says? Nope.
What the Bible says? Yep.

Prayer
Father, Help us as we strive to be more like Jesus day after day. Give us the strength, the encouragement and help us obey. You are our source. We love you, Lord.

Today Matters.

This day – any day – may feel mundane right now. But, one day, our grandchildren and great grandchildren will read history books about our time, and they may even wish they lived in our era to make some kind of difference on the hurting world around us now.

So, let’s not throw a day away by looking at it as inconsequential, especially when we are the central character of our own story – a story that impacts the world around us, sending ripples and waves, in a way that positively affects those around us. We have within us the ability to make a lasting impact through our words, our actions, our attitude and our resources.

My grandma told me that, during WW2, she went door to door with her wagon to collect metal to help support her country. She was 11. She did what she could do to help, even as a kid, which she carried into her adult life as a pillar of her community. She was an amazing example to me of how to positively affect the world around you.

Psalm 139 talks about the value of your life. It says every day was ordained before even one of them came to be. It’s no accident God made you the way you are with the gifts and passions He gave you, in the community He placed you, at this specific time.

We just need to open our hands and ask, “God, Show me your plan for my day. I yield to you. Please give me everything I need to live the life you called me to.”

The Positive Side of Rejection

Here is something beautiful I have learned from something difficult:

When you have gone through a form of rejection, but you turn to God, you come to learn that, no matter how people see you or respond to you, you will always be good, as long as you go to God.

So, instead of living your life – your calling – with reservation, you live it with boldness, knowing that – whether they reject you or not – you are going to be good as long as the Lord is behind it, and that — holding back out of self-consciousness can cause you to lose far more than rejection can.

So, next time you feel led to do something by the Lord — something bolder than you naturally feel comfortable with — move ahead confidently in that, knowing that the worst outcome of putting yourself on the line is rejection, but the best possible outcome is obeying God and fulfilling your calling.

And, when you are willing to get out of your way to go God’s way, there is absolutely no telling the supernatural, unexpected fruit and blessing that can result.

A practical example?

You feel led to share about Jesus with a friend (or even stranger), but you are afraid to because they might think you’re weird or reject you?

Remember that you are making it about you when really it is about obeying God and loving them.

The worst outcome is they shy away from you, but the best outcome is that they receive Jesus, experience healing and joy in their life, and spend eternity with God!

We really have to love people more than we hate the idea of being embarrassed.

You Don’t Need Permission.

You don’t owe them an explanation for where you ended up.

Have you been playing and replaying scenarios in your mind to feel clearance or permission to step into your future – to step out where you know God is calling you? Some of us have selective hearing for fear of what others may think. (A person’s face may even come to mind.)

Don’t look backwards for some imaginary permission. Your life belongs to no one but God and to you. And He is merciful, forgiving, empowering, and emboldening.

You owe no one a signature to sign off on your life or moving ahead in your calling. The more tethered you feel – the more obligated, the more determined you must be to rise above, to keep on going, and to run YOUR race set out before YOU. Keep running!

About Jesus, they said, “Does any GOOD come from Nazareth?” (The irony of it is, Jesus Himself was the human expression of good.) And look at His example: He did not need their permission to live out His mission, to take the steps needed to accomplish His goal. He didn’t have their permission, and He didn’t need it. He kept on course. He went from town to town, doing GOOD and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. Jesus faced opposition, and He kept doing good.

Jesus was wise. He didn’t chart His own path. He didn’t lean on His own goodness. When called “The Good Teacher,” He said, “Why do you call me good? Only God is truly good” (Jesus’ words from Luke 18:19). He did as His Father told Him: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does” (Jesus’ words from John 5:19).

Jesus went where He was told, and He left when He was told, saying “For my time has not yet come.” He came to do good and to accomplish GOOD. And He was going to use the wisdom coupled with the innocence He called His disciples to when He sent them out, being “wise as a serpent, innocent as a dove” (Jesus’ words from Matthew 10:16).

You do not need permission from those in your past to step into the good future God has called you to. To be like Jesus, you only need Father God’s voice guiding you, telling you where to go and when to leave. To do the good He is calling you to, you need only HIS permission. We need a sensitivity to hear His voice above all the rest and COURAGE to live in boldness, like the Lion of Judah, balanced with the humility to be like the Lamb, Jesus, as HE leads.

Go and do good. Go and do the good God has set apart for your life, for your future!

Out-of-Body Experience

For the Pioneers


I have always been pioneering – thinking, seeing, dreaming into the future. Sometimes I can see myself, see my family, in that place… a place of effectiveness on a grand scale, a spiritual standing ground, a place of impact or influence for the kingdom of God and in the marketplace. I can see it. 

And in those moments, those gifts of a moment, where the Lord has gifted me with a vision, I sometimes get too excited, to rambunctious, where impatience sets in. I begin to see a gap – from where I am now to where I will be then. 

And in that moment, in that gap, when you are at F on the map and God shows you L, it is far to easy to quickly scramble to create a plan to get there… when you see the result but have not yet been given the road map on getting from F to G and then from G to H.

The pioneering person can see the future so clearly at moments that it is as if you are having an out-of-body experience, and you must run to catch up with yourself. It can feel as though you have lost yourself to the future, and you must go on a quest to meet there.

But I have learned (and will probably learn some more) to not set off running to that place, even as beautiful as the vision may be, without first getting the road map from God. For, far too often, I have set off running only to find myself living somewhere in between where I was never intended to reside. God had L for me but I’m living in the land of J, even seemingly trapped, because I lacked the patience and fed the impulsivity to run ahead without getting God’s road map for the journey. And J was only ever meant to be a hotel stay, no place to reside.

And let’s think about those places, those in-between places… Think about the timing of a thing. When you land in a place really matters. For, at a certain time you will encounter different people and different circumstances then you might 20 minutes later… and all of these things matter. God uses people, He uses relationships, He uses circumstances to form us, to shape us, to develop us, to prepare us, even transform us, into the person we saw in the vision.

And the kind of relationships that we want – ones that are healthy, where iron sharpens iron – are found at a certain time in a certain place. Think about it: Meeting someone at 2 pm daylight is different than meeting someone at 2 am in the middle of the night. The people at those times will be different types of people. And what I truly want is to meet my 2 pm relationships, the circumstances with sunlight… I want to only step foot and tread ground where God tells me to and when. And so, I must trust Him for the entire journey.

The difference between who I am now and the person I see in the vision is transformation. And there are no short cuts for transformation. The Holy Spirit is the author and we must yield.

And so, when gifted with a vision, with the beauty of this thing, I must thank God for the vision. And I must temper my impatience to sit where I am until He tells me to go. And then, I must be willing to go at the pace He sets, even if its inching like a turtle rather than stampeding like a rhino.

For visions – grand, holy visions – are not ours. They are Gods. And for those visions to come to pass, we must do things God’s way. And so we must look to Him as the compass. We must stop in our tracks when we are lost and wait for our Father. We must temper the wild abandon that sets us off running, and tell our nervous systems to submit to the will of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit. 

For then we will reserve our energy and our focus and our gaze for the things God is focused on and gazing at. And we will see His purposes come to pass in our life, in our lifetime.

Pioneer, Fight the urge to run. You are here… you are now… for a reason. He will show you where to go and when. And when He says, “Go,” do it His way.