Blog

What is it that qualifies a person to be a disciple of Christ? Typically, people’s answer focuses on how the person behaves or talks, their biblical knowledge, or, more generically, being a follower of Jesus Christ. Yes, a disciple shares those features, but are those qualities clear indicators of a disciple of Jesus? If we applied such answers to Simon, the former magician introduced in Acts 8:13, would he be classified as a disciple of Christ? Luke wrote, Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed (ESV). Yet later (vs 20-22), when Simon exposed his misguided motivation, Peter firmly rebuked his pseudo-religious experience and insisted he repents and be converted. This shows we cannot classify a person to be a disciple of Jesus because they follow the classic religious protocol of receiving salvation, then becoming a participant in the local church. 

Jesus and Apostle James’ little brother Jude pointed out there were those in the church who were in the church but were like Simon. Here is how Jude described them. When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals, commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness. Jude 1:12-13 (NLT2)

The Greek word translated “disciple” means a “learner” or “pupil”. A disciple of Jesus, then, is one who learns from Jesus, but is that all a disciple is? If so, would that mean Judas Iscariot was a disciple of Jesus? He must have learned from Jesus having traveled with Him for 3 years. On the other hand, in the end, Judas failed to learn to have a heart like Jesus because he betrayed Jesus. Does learning from Jesus alone qualify a person to be an authentic disciple of Jesus? This additional insight allows us to get a step closer to identifying an authentic disciple of Jesus. 

Dallas Willard uses the term apprentice in place of disciple and it seems to me he is on to something profound yet very simple. An apprentice is a learner but is not simple in the proverbial classroom with other students, although he/she may be among the rest in a classroom. An apprentice is someone who provides help to a skilled worker in order to learn the trade himself. Such a person selects his/her hero of sorts and fully commits to learning everything about their hero, as well as the person’s perspective on life, skills, mannerisms, and even motivations. An apprentice of Jesus would then seek to be close to Him all the time, watching and listening not just to His words and deeds but sensing His motivations, values, and perspective of life. Perhaps the single most dynamic motivator within Jesus was His total love and devotion to His Father. An apprentice of Jesus would lean to share that love for God as well. Isn’t that what Jesus told each of us to practice in His first great commandment? And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30, NLT2)

It is my conviction that if I persist in learning to love God more each day, week, month, and year; I will find myself thinking and functioning as Jesus did. I have yet to grow into the full stature of a heart like Jesus for His Father, but I’m pressing on. How about you?     

While praying in my office at my home, a thought reoccurred that had confused me. I knew joy was one piece of evidence of God’s Spirit in my life. However, in the echo chambers of my mind, I wasn’t sure what joy meant. I have more of a melancholic personality, so it was not my nature to be bouncy, highly sociable, or emotionally giddy. I also understood that since God’s joy is for all to experience, every personality He created would have it yet express it differently. Also, since I felt pleased about my relationship with God, I continued to at least tell myself I had the joy of the Lord. I did so despite not feeling compelled to show the more notorious expressions of joy referenced in the Bible, like shouting, leaping, dancing, etc. While prayer that afternoon, I sensed it was time for me to look this haunting uncertainty straight in the face. I needed to determine if I had God’s joy as much as He expects me to have.

My mind came up with a list of life experiences in which I felt moments of my greatest pleasures. I then reduce that list down to the one pleasure I enjoyed the most. It was snow skiing, even though I was far from a skilled skier. For me, there was nothing as exhilarating as silently and smoothly gliding down a mountainside, soaking in the stunning beauty of snow on the trees, huge rocks, and mountaintops. I had immense pleasure just ruminated on the memorable moments I had experienced.

Alongside that, I laid the pleasure I experienced when I sensed I was in God’s presence, whether it was in church, prayer, Bible study, or wherever. The question then was which type of joy did I love the most. For me, there was no comparison. Being in God’s presence was without doubt when I felt the most exhilarated, at peace with my existence, most confident in who I was, most hopeful about my future, and most significant as a person. I remember at that moment I sensed such a relief being able to say with deep-felt integrity; I know I have the joy of the Lord. This knowledge has brought me increased confidence in my relationship with God as well.      

That experience set me on a quest to redefine God’s joy that would be more consistent with the Bible’s use of the word. From my perspective, Dallas Willard came up with the most Biblically comprehensive and enlightening description of joy. Joy is not a passing sensation of pleasure, but a pervasive sense of well-being that is infused with hope because of the goodness of God. I especially like his words, pervasive sense of well-being that is infused with hope. While I have had that sense in the past, since I have retired, I have sensed it repeatedly welling up within me. The results of that have increased the level of gratitude deep within me, as well as contentment.     

I share this in the blog, hoping it might inspire clarity and confidence in the type of joy you possess deep within you. It offers a heart-felt assurance in your relationship with our God. If you have yet to experience the excellency of that quality of God, just know it is available to all. It comes through a tenacious pursuit of knowing God in an ever-growing, intimate way.

The Bible verses having the deeper and longer-lasting impact on me have been those the Spirit used to bring me needed correction or direction. They set my life on a new trajectory. Common to most, I have struggled with comparing my life with others. Typically, that happens when I am feeling sorry for myself, wondering why I am not getting the perks others do.

Years back, I became troubled about fellow ministers who received more praise, promotion, and privilege than I. Some I knew personally had not been investing as much effort in their ministry as I was. Driving on the freeway in southern Oregon, I asked God about that. The Holy Spirit somehow orchestrated for me to be reading a particular Bible passage in my devotional time. One verse in the passage suddenly became so personal, it felt like Jesus was talking just to me. I cut my teeth reading the King James Version and here is how it read, How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (John 5:44, KJV). It was like saying to me, Bob, how can you expect to get to the next town North when you are heading South? Jesus used a similar contrast when He said about a different topic, You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both (Matthew 6:24, MSG)

I then understood the root of my problem had little to do with what was troubling my surface thoughts. I stood in greater awe of what other people thought of me than the sense of awe I had for God and His approval. The part that slapped me hardest in the face was the first part of that verse which was the question, How can ye believe or have strong faith in God if you are more concerned with what your friends or peers think of you than you are with God’s approval? 

In the full sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus teaches two fundamental things that will block anyone from experiencing genuine joy or happiness. One is the desire to have the approval of others and the desire to get material wealth by our own ingenuity. There is nothing inherently wrong with them SO LONG AS we keep them at their proper priority level. To keep them within those boundaries requires constant, disciplined, fixed focus dependence upon God. I realized then, and must frequently be reminded, it is the condition of my heart that determines the authenticity of my joy or happiness, not what I think, tell myself or in my behavior. Jesus put it this way, you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30, NLT2). Loving my neighbor, and every other good thing, flows out of having that as my foremost priority in life. 

The Puritans in American history lived as if they stood before an audience of One. They lived as if only one opinion mattered and it was God’s. That was how they understood Jesus lived His life on earth. Paul charges you and I to do all our work, whatever our situation, as a representative of our Lord. Jesus modeled for us how to live in this world with all its distractions, yet influenced only by His love for His Father. With His power working in us, we too can come to live as He lived. 

Has seeking the approval of others been subtly robbing you of the happiness you dream of experiencing? If so, I highly suspect it is because you have become distracted and your vehicle is heading in the wrong direction. I urge you to make serious deliberation to determine the steps you need to take in order to change the direction on the path you have been traveling. I am fully confident this will be well worth it because it is what Jesus taught brings His joy.

Have you met an emotionally healthy person who started out wanting to mess up on their job, in their family relationships, or with God? I’ve met plenty who have messed up big time, but none who started with a desire to do it. Consider a person who unintentionally muddles things up with one who breaks the rules and, without remorse, just blows it off? When our children display childish irresponsibility, as parents, we lovingly use that moment as a healthy teaching opportunity. But when they carelessly, proudly, or defiantly disobey or abuse others, a different form of love must be shown. It is all about the attitude, isn’t it?

Biblical righteousness is very comparable to one’s desire to do what is right in God’s eyes. The Bible tells us, I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules (Ezekiel 36:27, ESV). Paul wrote it this way, God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him (Philippians 2:13, NLT2). While the desire to live right in God’s presence on this earth is in us, that doesn’t mean we are faultless in always obeying His rules. As we grow into maturity in Christ, which is measuring up to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, we stumble from time to time. It is crucial we understand God is not angry with us when we skin our knee any more than we are angry with our children when they do so. However, our response to the failure reveals the depth of our desire to “carefully obey” God’s rules. Disobedience triggers a fog to form in between child and parent as well as between us and our relationship with God. John promised if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9, ESV). On the other hand, if we are cavalier, careless or stubborn about doing things our way, we can expect to encounter a form of loving discipline. God loves us too much to leave us in that condition.

Some might rebut saying God gave us Christ’s righteousness when we called on His name (Romans 3:22, 25). Therefore, Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor. 6:11). True, but we must read the whole Bible, not cherry-pick the verses to defend our unrighteous choices. John wrote, by this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:10, ESV). The righteousness given to us in Christ was not His right behavior; it was His love-driven desire to be careful to obey His Father. If Christ’s righteousness we received is not causing us to exercise His desire to live the right life before God, something is seriously wrong with our spiritual condition or understanding. God the Father focuses on the heart’s passion to love Him as Jesus loved His Father and subsequently lived a well-pleasing life before His Father, not the symptomatic behavior.   It is interesting to note Abraham, Moses and other Old Testament characters, as well as Paul and 11 disciples, who were not faultless yet were called righteous. This was because all had something deep within motivating them to swim against the current of external religion to follow God’s character, core values, and ways. I find incredible comfort knowing that God does not focus on my failures, but my heart that insists on seeking the kingdom of God. I’m confident He proudly smiles at my growing passion to do His good will. He does the same thing when He sees the heart of all genuinely righteous people, including YOU.

Although I have read the Bible through scores of times, Monday morning I read something I had missed. In Psalms 89, Ethan the Ezrahite, began with the words I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations (Psalm 89:1, KJV). Back in the day, we sang those words in church. Ethan extolled God’s faithfulness to all generations and how He made covenants and protected those He loved from the enemies. He wrote in verses 27-29 how the future Messiah would reign forever and ever.

Each time I read this; Ethan’s exultation of God’s greatness must have so captivated me I missed the sharp left corner in verse thirty-eight. Actually, I did that when driving and ended up in a different state!! Here Ethan wrote, But you have rejected, you have spurned; you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins. All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors (Psalm 89:38-41, NIV). What!! After all the good things, he challenges God’s integrity. Have you ever experienced a tragic loss, feeling like all the wheels fell off your tricycle? You inadvertently question the integrity of God’s promises to you.          

I find great insight if I ask myself after reading a Bible passage, 1) what does this tell me about God, His character, core values, and ways; 2) what does this tell me about me or humanity; and 3) what does what I have read tell me I need to do? The morning I read and later reread this passage a few times, it took me back a bit because I could not believe what it said about God. As I pondered, it occurred to me that I have felt like Ethan. 

After David and his son Solomon’s reigns, Ethan’s reality was God’s promised dynasty slowly disintegrated. Eventually, Assyria or Babylon conquered the Hebrews and moved their elite to live in foreign countries. Given Ethan’s limited perspective of the events, what he wrote was true. I can understand why he wrote what he did given that limited perspective. So, what is the deal?

Perspective is critical when the wheels fall off our trike. When you are on top of a mountain, you can see other majestic mountain peaks, but not what is in the deep valleys between them. Your mind produces grandiose ideas. But when you hike into those valleys, you lose sight of that splendor even though the magnificent mountain tops are still there.

Hearing Jesus teach about the kingdom of God, His disciples’ biased imagination produced grandiose pictures of them ruling with Jesus when He took down the Roman government and set up this kingdom. You see this just before Jesus ascended; the disciples kept asking, Lord, are you going to free Israel [from Rome] now and restore us as an independent nation? (Acts 1:6, TLB). This sounds like Ethan. Even though he had prophesied, the Messiah would come and reign forever and ever (Ps 89:27-29), as well as God would discipline kings who would not obey His commandments (Ps 89:30-32); seeing only only God’s discipline in the valley, he lost perspective of the blessedness yet to come. It is so easy to put a selfish twist on what God promised and disregard what we already know about God’s holiness and justice. 

Holy Spirit, PLEASE help me keep your bigger perspective as I journey through life’s mountains and valleys.

A fascinating thought recently came to me when reflecting on Adam and Eve’s choice to doubt God’s integrity. Why would God allow them to sin in such a devastating way? How else might God display His mercy, grace, justice, and truth?

The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write, Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior (Colossians 1:21, NIV). That means since the time of Adam and Eve, each of us followed their lead, which alienated us from God. The verse following describes God’s act of mercy and grace. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Colossians 1:22, NIV).

If their sin locked us into the theory of cause-and-effect, we would be forever enemies of God in our minds. But God is eager to show each of us His mercy and grace if we humbly admit our helpless condition. Those of us who have so humbled ourselves receive His mercy, but we forget it all too often. We then lock others into the logical cause-and-effect model.

Recently, I was sitting in a worship service at church when I reflected on how a person’s unwise choices were negatively influencing others to follow a very unhealthy path of life. With my cause-and-effect default in play, I saw how one man’s skewed perspective of life was being played out in his sphere of influence. Then, when the congregation sang a song of hope and praise to God, this man became engaged in worship, expressing his hope and faith in God. The Holy Spirit seemed to rebuke me, saying “you forget I love to show mercy and grace that can completely change the trajectory of his unwise leadership?” Humbly, I sorrowfully admitted “guilty as charged”.

After Jesus had spoken what could easily have been misinterpreted, the Jewish leaders thought in their mind Jesus had committed blasphemy. Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?” (Matthew 9:4, NIV). Like those Jewish leaders, I meet with failure when I attribute evil motives to people’s actions. What I had not considered was how this man was doing his best with what he had learned and trusting God to intervene and correct whatever he did that was not right. Woe be unto us if we think our own knowledge, skills, personality, or experience is enough to make everything in our world turn out right. Regardless of our ability to see it, each of us desperately needs God to adjust the trajectory of our feeble efforts and make them turn out right.

Lord, when will I realize that judging (attribute improper motives too) my brother means I am doing You and him a grave disservice? I am overlooking Your presence in him, for I must believe that You are working in him just as you do in me. I am reminded that judging others is the crudest form of pride or self-worship. It says God is working in only me. Paul wrote So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God (Romans 14:10, (NLT2). I must remember what Jesus said about the mote and beam (Matthew 7:3). I still have so much to learn about His mercy, grace, justice, and truth! How about you?

Imagine a person making a foolish decision to swim where there is a dangerous whirlpool or tidewater. When that person nearly drowns unless rescued, who receives the admiration, the foolish swimmer or the risk-taking lifesaver? The same is true when a person or non-profit organization liberates an addict, abuser of any sort, or is on a deadly path of life.       

Did Adam and Eve’s act of rebellion serve only a negative purpose? If so, why would God allow them to choose to disobey? The negative fruit of their sin saturates scripture, but so does God’s grace and mercy. Would His grace, mercy, justice, and righteousness be clear to us if He would not have given them the free will that allowed them to sin? Sin certainly is bad, but when we have godly repentance and seek His forgiving grace, the honor and glory go to God.

But what happens when the foolish swimmer or person on the destructive path refuses to acknowledge he or she needs to be rescued? Can that person be rescued? 

A brief Bible lesson: Genesis 1:26 reads, Then God said, let us [plural] make human beings in our [plural] image, to be like ourselves [plural]. (NLT2) The Bible shows God comprises three persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We also find, The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground [seen/body] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [unseen/spirit}, and the man became a living being [soul]. (Genesis 2:7, NIV) With those three components we can effectively communicate with two worlds at the same time. With free will, our soul can choose to make foolish choices that ultimately lead to our destruction, as it did for Adam and Eve. That does not need to be our destiny. God the Son, laid aside His deity, became a human so He could regenerate us and rescue us from our demise. Because of His sacrificial life, we can also choose to follow His intuitive whispers deep within our spirit. Following the unseen voice within will lead us to live the best life possible in this world and the unseen world, we enter when we die.

What is it that motivates a foolish swimmer to swim in unsafe water, or to live a destructive lifestyle? The same motivator drives both. The delusional, alluring fantasy that by doing things our way we will beat the system and experience greater pleasure or benefit this physical world offers us. “I got it! I can do it and enjoy a better life.” The visible attractions of this life trump the invisible principles. The peer pressure, the pleasures, fears, lusts, rush of adrenaline, logic, or approval of others distract us from getting better grades, being a better friend, or studying to find invisible but everlasting truth. Paul explained, The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature [natural mind], can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. (1 Corinthians 2:14, MSG) Unless you pay attention to the intuitive whisper deep within, following your visible delusion will cost you more than you will want to pay. You can’t afford to refuse God’s generous rescue offer for an abundant life.  

What do you allow to motivate the daily choices you must make in your world? How much attention do you give to the spirit God breathed into your life that will guide you, not only into an abundant life here and now, but also prepares you for a more rewarding eternal life? Jesus said, And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? Luke 9:25 (NLT2)

I discovered Donald Yamamoto has been living as an ambassador in Somalia since 2018. Friends of mine moved there to serve their people for a time. It is semidesert with landscapes of thornbush savanna. The nationals are clan-based and over half live a nomadic way of life. Decades of civil hostilities have destroyed its economy and infrastructure and split the country into various factions. I wondered what it might be like living as an ambassador and governed by the laws of two unique cultures.

Jesus lived in two entirely different cultures (Israel and the kingdom of God) at the same time modeling how we can do so. The Bible teaches every Christ-follower lives simultaneously in two worlds as Jesus did, the physical seen world and the unseen spiritual world. We must choose which world is our real world as an ambassador must do. Being raised in a physical culture, we often think of the kingdom of heaven as fantasy. But which existed first and will last forever?

It fascinates me to read in Genesis how God designed each human with the capacity to live simultaneously in two worlds. The Bible teaches God is triune (has three parts). It is noteworthy to read God said, “Let us [plural] make human beings in our image, to be like ourselves…” (Genesis 1:26, NLT2). Just as the Bible explains, there are three aspects of God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit; He created man with three parts. Then the LORD God 1) formed the man from the dust of the ground [body]. He breathed the breath of life [spirit] into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person [soul] (Genesis 2:7, NLT2). Paul later identifies those three components of man as spirit (our connection with the spirit world), soul, and body (our connections with the physical). (1 Thessalonians 5:23) The Bible repeatedly calls us to live in both worlds and gives us illustrations of characters who did so, Jesus being the ideal model.   

Interrupted by a paralyzed man being lowered from the roof. Jesus first said to him, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5, ESV). The Jewish leaders present questioned in their hearts (unspoken) why Jesus would speak such blasphemies. The Bible reports, immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts?” (Mark 2:8, ESV). This illustrates the humanity of Jesus functioning in the seen world while the unseen Spirit whispered to Him what these men were thinking.

As we learn the practical difference between our soul and spirit, we will become adept at living in two cultures at the same time. We will be able to worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24) as Jesus commanded. It will enable us to make better daily decisions. If the idea of having a spirit is new to you, you will find it extremely rewarding to learn more about it and how to release its potential into your daily life. Learning to team my spirit with my soul has expanded my capacity to love and serve others in my physical world. It provides encouragement and inspiration when I can see my seen world through the lens of the Spirit in my unseen existence in life.  

Gallop Polls asked in their survey of Americans, Do you believe in God?  87% reported Yes. However, when worded the same question differently in subsequent polls, responses dropped to 79% and 64% respectfully. They concluded the answers depended upon the definition of “belief”. If the standard is absolute certainty—no hedging and no doubts, two-thirds say they believe in God. Given the stark contrast between what God’s Word teaches and societies’ morals and ethics, there is a serious disconnect somewhere.       

In Dallas Willard’s book Life without Lack, he clears up the confusion by defining three types of faith or belief. This is an excellent book to read focused on Psalms 23. Each type has significance and worthy of respect. The difference between them is very understandable and revealing. The first type he describes as Faith of Propriety. Webster defines propriety to mean conformity to what is socially acceptable. It might be said that 87% have Faith of Propriety in God, but 64% certainly have this level of faith. Job models each type at different points in his life but begins with this one. He trusted God would be good to him if he lived a decent life. We see this in him offering sacrifices for his children if perchance they had done something wrong. It focused his faith on God’s benefits.

God then allowed circumstances to come to him that would move him to the next level, Faith of Desperation. He was a very wealthy man, but he suddenly lost everything except his wife. A rich young ruler who, like Job, also lived a very upright life. He was so interested in doing what was right he asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus commended him for his life values, then exposed his love of riches more than his love for God. In his case, he directly bailed out. In Job’s case, after losing everything, he staggered for a time but stayed in the game. Since he didn’t bail, he eventually had a most powerful meeting with God. It was so forceful, Job said; I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor (Job 42:5-6, MSG). This is a snapshot of what David described when he wrote, The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalm 34:18 (NLT2).

This despair and hopelessness morphed Job’s faith into Faith of Sufficiency. Job’s trust in God was now so firm he knew that he knew God was all he would ever need in life. He was now at rest much as Jesus was after He wrestled with His Father in the garden then with conviction said; I want your will to be done, not mine (Luke 22:42c, NLT2). I am awed that Jesus went through all the abuse humans could give Him only saying a few poignant words.

Which of these types of faith might you expect to see in the 64% who said they believe in God? How have you responded when the Spirit of God attempted to move you into the Faith of Desperation? Did you bail or resolve to trust God’s Spirit to enable you to walk it out? How has the Faith of Sufficiency affected your daily life? I have known each stage of faith. I have known the agony of desperation. And I have experienced the incredible peace, confidence, and pervasive sense of well-being infused with hope because of God’s presence. Yes, I have slid back and had to go through the process again, but He has sustained me each time. I have experienced enough of His grace that I can write with conviction that God will walk with you through each stage if you will trust Him and stay the course.

In hindsight, everything is clearer. When reassessing a game, sports commentators often point back to a key poor play or call that made the difference in the final score. However, everyone knows it is hard to always make perfect decisions in the heat of the battle. Hindsight is closer to 20/20 vision.   

Life is the same way. Looking in retrospect, we all have at least had such thoughts as, “I wish I would have taken more risks, or been a better listener.” Our bias or interpretation of the immediate situation captivates our mind instead of how this decision will shape my future. Jesus said… what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? (Mark 8:36, NLT2). 

“I just want to have fun.” If I heard it once, I have heard it a thousand times. Typically, it comes out of the mouth of a young person, but it certainly is not limited to that age group. It has become the byword of our current culture—even our worldview. Comfort, luxury, and pleasure have become core values rather than pride in one’s work, being a team player or helping another person. We see this in employment data, assessments of educators, supervisors, coaches, even bankers. I do not intend for this to sound condescending. It is only an assessment of reality. Not until we see reality clearly are we able to make healthy, prudent, and fruitful decisions for our tomorrow.         

If I repeatedly ask and answer the question enough times, “why do I want to…?”, I can uncover what is motivating my desire. Usually, I find the root issue is not about helping someone; rather, it comes from a self-serving desire within me. It may be a desire for recognition, fun or gratification of some sort, power, fear, materialism or such traits. There is nothing inherently wrong with those—until they become more important to you than your passion for a close relationship with God. I have found this statement the Spirit inspired Paul to write to be very profound insight. “Everything is permissible for me”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”–but I will not be mastered by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12, NIV). I have a sandbox full of emotions, fantasies, memories hidden within that master my decisions far more than I like. About the time I think I have overcome one master, something else within me takes its place. It is like trying to get gravel out of my garden. Another stone seems to appear as soon as I remove those I can see.  

The most incredible benefit of becoming free from anything (fear, lust, greed, etc.) controlling me is the deep sense of closeness to God which brings an indescribable peace, gratitude, wonderful sense of well-being (which I think of as genuine joy), confidence and significance. Paul described it this way. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ Philippians 3:8 (NLT2)

Thanks to God, I have experienced far more satisfaction, confidence, and significance than ever in my life. I believe I am now experiencing more of the abundant life Jesus spoke about. I also believe the most abundant life is yet to come. Looking in my rearview mirror too long would lead to wrecking the blessed life I now enjoy. I share these thoughts only because I believe you also want to enjoy the gratifying life I am enjoying today.