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Imagine having three different phone lines to manage. One of those phone lines connected you to the doctor serving your physically failing but deeply loved parent. The confusing part is, both your other phones incessantly keep ringing. The other phone calls involve a wide variety of issues, but none as critical as that of your parent.

That word picture describes our mind as we walk through life. We pick one of the other two phones, get so caught up in the thoughts and emotions of the messages that we cannot hear the ringing of the most important phone call from the doctor serving your ailing parent.

God Calling

This happens frequently throughout each day, except in our case, the most important phone ringing is from our Heavenly Father. He calls to give us assurance, guidance, insight, or to correct our misguided notions. However, if we are so caught up in the emotions or intensity of the other phone messages, we miss the most important one.

Three days after Jesus died on the cross and on the very day He rose from the dead, two disciples were walking to a nearby community called Emmaus. They had been earnestly intending to follow Him, but they had also been listening to the messages on the phone depicting their personal dreams. This was not supposed to happen to their hero. Jesus’ death had virtually blown them out of the water because they had invested all they had believing He was the Messiah. They were commiserating about the confusing events that had just happened in Jerusalem. Their deeply invested dream had vaporized.

Jesus knew their condition, yet did not blame them for their confusion. Rather, He began walking alongside of them, entering their conversation. At the opportune time, He explained what the prophets of old had boldly, yet naively proclaimed in the Scripture. Note that He did not talk in parables; He helped them understand what portion they had of the Bible. What He said made the words in their Bible come alive. Yet, they had been so caught up with their spinning minds and emotions; they did not know this was Jesus with whom they walked and talked.  

It was AFTER Jesus left them; the pieces of their puzzle fell together. Then they said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 (NLT2). They did not recognize Jesus with their five senses. They recognized Him with something burning within them. The most important phone had been ringing all the time Jesus walked and talked to them, but they did not hear it ringing. Why? Their minds and emotions were louder than the still small ringing within them.

No Greater Pleasure

Have you been caught up in disturbing circumstances in life? Have your mind and emotions been smothering the soft, gentle ringing within your inner being? If so, it does not upset God! Instead, He walks alongside you, waiting patiently for you to recognize your heart burning within as you seek to reflect on what your Bible is saying to you. Like these two disciples, the Spirit waits for you to dial down your mind and emotions. Then take time to listen to the gentle burning within your spirit as He reveals Himself and His truth to you. There is NO GREATER PLEASURE than the awakening of God’s whispers to you as you meditate on what His Bible says to you.    

I recently read that a child smiles about four hundred times a day while an adult-only manages twenty. I am sure we could speculate on reasons that may be true. I wondered if that estimated number applied more to American children or those in a third-world country. It captivated me when, on a mission trip to Africa, seeing children there laugh and play all day with an empty plastic water bottle, an adult had thrown away. It caught my attention because I see a child playing with a pricey toy then leaving it in the street if another child shows up with a more popular toy. 

Could the smile variance have anything to do with the level of contentment of a child and an adult? A child can be happy and content to play all afternoon with a refrigerator box when an adult would soon fold it up and throw it away—unless he thought up something to do with it like catch oil drips from the family car.

There is no end to craving something more. Contentment is the foundation of true happiness. Happiness that comes from fulfilling a desire is like a mirage in the desert—it is only a figment of the imagination. It is like planning for a dream vacation only to find out shortly after arriving at the location the air has nearly gone out of the balloon. Contentment alone offers the best path to true happiness. 

After expressing his gratitude when he received a gift while in prison, the apostle Paul wrote, actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content, whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy, whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Philippians 4:11-12 (MSG) Notice what he wrote after living in that prison for several years. When requesting prayer for himself. He asked them to pray that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:19-20 (ESV) That prayer request is stunning to me! I suspect I would have been feeling sorry for myself and requested prayer to be delivered from being chained to prison guards!

Paul could only make that kind of prayer request because he had virtually “kissed that chain that bound him” which liberated him from his circumstance. His dreams now focused on being able to speak boldly about the good news of the kingdom of God when standing before the most powerful man in the world, the Caesar of Rome. The contentment he wrote about in his letter to the Philippians was not religious rhetoric, it was the real deal. Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have. Paul found full contentment in his intimate relationship with Christ. Anything more than that was nice, but unnecessary. Happiness will only be a fleeting shadow for those who cannot appreciate what they already have. As Paula Rollo said, contentment does not mean that I desire nothing. It is the simple decision to be content with what I have.

Do you have that kind of contentment? Or, do you want wealth, power, the esteem of others, or success that must be more satisfying than the life you live? The face of contentment is genuine gratitude, a very grateful heart. If you find you have been chasing happiness yet lack contentment, I strongly urge you to pause long enough to realign your values so you can be content with what you already have.  

While the mind serves a vital role in spiritual formation, it is NOT the beginning or end. The mind cannot transform anyone into a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). Only God’s faith embedded within a person can do that. The mind IS, however, a gatekeeper of whether spiritual formation occurs or continues. Let me put it into perspective.

God’s Design

God comprises three persons, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Genesis 1:26 (ESV). He then created humans to also have three parts. Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7 (ESV) The apostle Paul identified those three elements by writing, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV) The mind, not the body’s brain, is one of the three functions of the soul and serves a pivotal role in a person’s spiritual condition.

All three of human components (spirit, soul and body) took part in man’s first sin and therefore must take part in his salvation. When the woman saw (reasoned with the mind/soul) that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate (body), and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 (ESV) The role of Eve’s spirit in doubting or choosing not to believe God’s word was implicit in the context. This disobedience was the fall of humanity. For salvation to occur, all three components within each individual must take part in reversing the rebellion (disobedience) before spiritual regeneration can occur. Paul explained if you confess with your mouth (body) that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart (spirit) that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 (ESV) In this case, the soul’s decision to confess and believe in the heart or spirit, though not stated, is yet implicit in the context. 

A Blind Spot
A blind mind will lead a person to living like a spiritual zombie. The natural person (soul/mind) does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor. 4:3-4 (ESV)

Divine Sight for the Blind Spot

Paul prayed, … that the God … may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, … Ephesians 1:16-18 (ESV)  The goal of a Christian is to attain [through sequential enlightenments]… the … knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, Eph. 4:13 (ESV)

Summarized:

• No matter how much information the mind knows about God or practices right living, it alone cannot redeem man.
• The mind serves as a gatekeeper to intimate knowledge of and relationship with Christ.
• When the mind receives a divine revelation, then surrenders its control to God, the spirit and body will do their parts.
• The Spirit of God will recreate the person into being a child of God.
• As that process repeats itself in one’s life, that person will become spiritually mature, growing into the full stature of Jesus Christ.

About a year ago, Connie had her annual physical. To our surprise, her nurse practitioner told her she needed to be admitted into the hospital at once. For an unknown reason, her hemoglobin count had dropped to 6.5 (supposed to be 12+). She received two units of blood and went through tests to figure out the cause for this severe of a drop. They diagnosed her with a serious blood disorder that could take her life. We were told she may have only 5 months left to live. This shocking news sent us into a semi-crisis mode.

Several friends faced life-threatening situations; two required hospitalizations to survive, one a month of in-depth, outpatient treatment, and another prematurely lost a parent. A baby’s instinctive response, when it senses it is falling, is to throw out their hands to grasp something to break their fall. Adults have the same self-preservation response when facing a crisis. That initial response does not define us, but how we respond after the adrenaline rush does. We choose to either continue to use whatever control mechanisms we can imagine, such as place blame, go into the attack mode, withdraw, or go into depression. Or we can draw close to God and seek Him to direct our subsequent response. This secondary response reveals who we really believe is our hope. Genuine biblical belief automatically walks out whatever we believe in our hearts to be true. Saying we believe differs from living it out. If we decide to resort to what we or someone else can do, it shows our trust is in ourselves or another human, not God. But if we choose to dial down our initial panic and seek God’s comfort and wise direction; it shows that God is our source of strength. God does not condemn us for not choosing Him because He already knew what we believe in our hearts. He is attempting to enlighten us. Such trials reveal to us what is in our hearts. God uses these traumatic trials to allow us to see and then realign or refine the trajectory of our future relationship with God.

Paul explains the inner workings of these times in our life in Romans 6:10-18. He writes, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:11-12, NKJV). There are two important words here. The first is stand which is more passive than the other which is wrestle, which involves initiative and action. Paul does not use the word wrestle to suggest we are to mobilize our human initiative to take physical, mental, or emotional and go into our attack mode. Notice what he means. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6:13, NKJV). The very first word of the next verse again is stand. The wrestling we must do goes on in the battlefield of our minds and emotions, not our body. It involves deciding who we rely on to resolve the issue. Will we choose to trust in our own ingenuity or resources or in God’s strength and wisdom? To be clear, God MAY have us engage in an initiative-taking activity, but if that is the case, His wisdom, not our human ingenuity, will direct and drive the action.    

For certain, the wrestling that goes on within is brutal!! Jesus sweat, as it were, drops of blood when He wrestled in the garden. But after surrendering His will to His Father, He received such profound peace that He scarcely spoke when enduring sordid abuse. Connie and I have walked through those dark, dark times multiple times and know this truth works. Our Bible God is faithful, wise and almighty. The closer your relationship is to Him, the more you will trust Him.

When reflecting on Psalm 23:1, one simple word stood out to me. It was the word ‘is.’ The Lord is my Shepherd. Many find comfort in this famous verse. Indeed, it is a very poignant verse, loaded with inspiring and challenging truths. The word “is” in the verse refers to something present, not past or future. It does not read; The Lord was or will be my Shepherd.

I have read that some sheep walk along the fenced area looking for a weak or broken-down place to get out of the pasture to find better grass. If there is no fence, they wander off searching for greener pastures. While a person may be their shepherd, when those sheep are walking the fence line seeking for an escape or wandering off, those animals are not allowing the shepherd to be their shepherd. They want to shepherd themself. Anyone can read or quote Psalm 23:1 if they like, but if they are not following Christ’s laws, precepts, or desires, they cannot honestly say the Lord is my Shepherd. Only those investing in seeking to follow Christ’s leadership can say that.

This also applies to the word ‘believe.’ Biblical belief is not a cerebral thought or mental assent. It is a mindset prepared to act as though it was true, in contrast to being an ideal. Jesus said, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him (John 14:23, ESV). John put it this way, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3, ESV). Jesus’ teachings are truly clear about hearing and doing, in contrast to hearing and knowing.      

We cannot just say we believe in or love God, we must express it in all we do and say. Understanding God’s love for you in its full dimensions will set you free to enjoy all that is yours as a Christian. If you only can say you believe and cannot emotionally and intuitively accept the truth that God loves you, you will be limited in how you can relate to Him. When He disciplines you, you will not take it as an expression of His love. Instead, you may resent Him. When God says no to a request that is less than His best for you, you will falsely presume He does not care about you. Without a clear understanding and acceptance of God’s love for you, you will be disoriented to Him and to what He wants to do in your life. If you will accept God’s love, however, you will be able to return love to God as well as to others (1Jn 4:19).

Jesus’ last great commission to all who follow Him was to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey [to do] all the commands I have given you… (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT2) Does this mean we must be sinless in our journey through life? Certainly not—any more than we expect our children to obey perfectly or do absolutely everything we tell them. Just as we are more concerned with the attitude of our child’s heart than with their perfect behavior, so God is far more concerned about the attitude of our heart than with our sinless behavior. He is closely watching how we respond after we realize we have broken His laws. Are we humble and repentant or do we blow it off by telling ourselves God’s grace covers my sins?

The veracity of your love and trust in God is exposed in the attitude of your heart and what you fear. If you sense within that your belief is too shallow, there is great hope. By investing more deeply by scheduling time to get to know His character, value system, and ways through meditation on His written Word, you will be rewarded with a growing love and trust in Him.

Connie and I have had dark times, some REALLY dark! We experienced what was the darkest of our dark days several years back. I realize darkness, like tests, is different for each person. I am certain others have had even darker times. I grieve with you for what you had to endure. In our case, all we could do is hold one another as waves of memories flooded our mind. The only light we could dimly make out ahead of us was through eyes of faith.   

I remember reading Psalm 18 where it reads in my distress [v 17 while the sorrows of hell surrounded him—that is darkness!] I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears (Psalm 18:6, ESV). Notice the environment did not get brighter for David. They turned even darker! Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet (Psalm 18:7-9, ESV).In verse eleven, David wrote: He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Psalm 18:11 (ESV)

I had always related God with light, not darkness, so reading this caught my attention. I then noticed the environment when God asked Moses to gather all the people. [They] came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness (Deuteronomy 4:11, NIV). The Psalmist also wrote, Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne (Psalm 97:2, ESV). It is obvious no one can put God in a box and say this is what He always is like. When talking to Moses, before revealing Himself to the Hebrews, God’s purpose was to make a deep impression in the minds of the people so they will learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth. (Deut. 4:10).

In David’s case, he wrote He [God] reached out and drew me out of deep waters (Psalm 18:16, ESV). When is it you can most vividly see God’s greatness? It is when you are in the lowest and most impossible situation and He stunningly delivers you from your plight. Why? God wants to stamp the greatness of who He is in your heart, so you can never deny He is God and you and I are not!    

Jesus purposefully waited for His friend Lazarus to die. It was the painfully dark clouds of grief that made it possible for Lazarus’ sisters’ minds and emotions to internalize the stunning glory of God that was revealed when Lazarus came out of the grave. (John 11:40, ESV) While their ears had heard of God’s unparalleled power now their eyes beheld it as Job did. The black clouds of the crucifixion were part of the equation for Jesus’ history-changing, life-giving resurrection. They represent one of the tools the Holy Spirit uses to stamp the awesomeness of God in our memory and in our hearts. By tenaciously guarding our hearts while in the darkness, we will be enabled to experience the awe-inspiring vision of God’s greatness. It is that vision that will deliver us from mental and emotional chains that bind us. It will also build and sustain our faith for our future. Remember, God loves us enough to allow us to endure the darkness so we can experience His delightful future. Can you now place a higher value on the dark clouds in your life?

Is it possible to live in two worlds at the same time without that being strange? Certainly! A US Ambassador assigned to Somalia is esteemed, not considered weird. In such a case, the ambassador must abide by the rules at home and also wherever assigned. Did you know God intentionally designed you to live in two very different worlds?

God said, “Let us make man in our [plural–Father, Son and Holy Spirit] image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26a, ESV). This says the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground (body) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [Spirit world], and the man became a living being [also translated soul] (Genesis 2:7, NIV). You, along with every other human, are built with these three parts. Paul describes these parts as spirit, soul, and body. (1 Thess. 5:23) 

The humanity of Jesus possessed these same three parts and effectively lived in two different worlds. His body and soul effectively connected with the earthly (‘seen’) world, while His spirit connected with the unseen kingdom of Heaven. In Capernaum (visible world), when healing and teaching, Jesus said something that upset the Jewish leaders who were present. With them only thinking thoughts, Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit [unseen world] that this was what they were thinking in their hearts… Mark 2:8a (NIV). 

Every human can communicate with the unseen world as Jesus did, although many are blind to this ‘unseen’ kingdom of God. When a person humbly submits their life to the King of this kingdom, He regenerates their spirit, enabling them to live in both worlds at the same time. Jesus walked and talked with two disciples on their way to Emmaus. They later reported, Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us (Luke 24:32, NLT2)? Their burning hearts were their spirit connecting with the ‘unseen’ spirit world.    

Far too many live an inconsistent Christian life because they are preoccupied with circumstances in their physical world. While they say they believe in God’s ‘unseen kingdom’ they ignore it. God waits for us to remember that living in the truth, hope and inspiration of the ‘unseen’ is the only way to experience the abundant life Jesus promised.

Our ‘seen’ world tells us seeing is believing. However, God wants us to believe truth in the ‘unseen’ world, by which we can see the bigger picture and have His peace. The psalmist said, I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (Ps 27:13 NASB). Do you honestly believe what God says only when your circumstances are favorable or do you believe no matter what your circumstances may be?

Keep in mind, the kingdom of God existed before the earth’s creation and will exist long after this earth is destroyed. We can enjoy a much better life if we shift our focus off what is ‘seen’ in this physical world and align our daily life with the laws of our ‘unseen’ yet very real home. The king we serve wants us to respect the laws of our earthly world but also insists we set [our] hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1, NIV). Which world have you been focusing on in the last 30-60 days? Have you been enjoying God’s peace that passes all understanding or fear and frustration that the ‘seen’ world creates in you? That choice is yours. Your outlook determines your outcome!         

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.