Friday, October 28, 2011

What's Your Mandate?


"Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better." Colossians 1:10, NLT

Let’s be honest, do we really think it’s possible to live in such a way as to “always honor and please the Lord”? At first glance that might seem a little tough. I do think it’s totally possible, but not without some sort of plan. About 7 years ago I put together this list of 8 personal goals/challenges that I believed would help me to honor and please Jesus Christ with my life – as a man, a husband, a father and a pastor. This list is the first page of my planner, so I’m reminded of them everyday.

So, here’s my list:

(1) Maintain a genuine, growing, intimate relationship with God. (Matthew 4:4, Jeremiah 29:13)

By having a daily quiet time for personal prayer and devotional Bible reading.

(2) Love my wife as Jesus loves His Church. (Ephesians 5:25, Proverbs 5:15, 1 Peter 3:7)

By actively pursuing times for encouragement and communication through focused time with her.

(3) Be a loving and nurturing father to my children. (Ephesians 6:4)

By being actively engaged in their lives through quality time and activities.

(4) Have a lifestyle that promotes the kingdom of God through my work at Valley Family Church and as a member of our community. (1 Corinthians 9:22, 1 Timothy 3:7)

By living a holy and devoted life and being God-minded in my relationships in and outside of the church.

(5) Demonstrate good financial stewardship and integrity in all aspects of my life. (Luke 16:11-13, Proverbs 19:1, Proverbs 20:7)

By living within our annual budget, while saving and investing for our future, and by continued study in the area of investments.

(6) Develop my God-given gifts to fulfill my calling as a pastor and a leader. (1 Peter 4:10)

By having a personal growth plan, including listening to podcasts and CD’s, studying and furthering my education.

(7) Maintain my physical health through proper diet and exercise. (1 Corinthian 9:27, 3 John 2)

By eating right and scheduling regular times for running and weight training.

(8) Be committed to developing stronger relationships with friends, staff, church members and those outside the church. (Proverbs 18:24, Proverbs 27:17)

By actively pursuing opportunities to build relationships one on one.

So there they are, the principles that guide my life. Like I said, I call these my life mandates. So a little word of encouragement to you is to print this out and take some time to prayerfully consider what your personal mandate might look like. I’m sure it will be different than mine, but let’s connect in heaven and see how we both did.

I pray that as you live to honor and please the Lord, you will learn to know Him better and better.

With my love-

Jeff

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Did I Really Say That?


"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." Colossians 4:6, NKJV

Words will make or break every relationship that we have. Our words will either draw people to us, or they will push people away. Words…written or spoken…carry great weight in our lives. Words—spoken with grace, seasoned with salt.

Have you ever given any thought to how your words come across to the people in your life? I certainly have. For me, when I blow it, it’s not so much “what” I say, it’s “how” I say. Has that ever happened to you?

In today’s verse, God is encouraging us to let our words, “always be with grace.” Isn’t it amazing it think that it’s possible for the grace of God to be extended to people through our words? Our words can actually build people up. Or on the flip side, our words can be spoken without grace, and therefore they can tear people down. Even if you need to speak words of correction to someone you can season those words with salt. That just means we can frame our words in such a way that even though they are corrective, they can be easily swallowed, or heard.

In Matthew 12:37 (NKJV) Jesus said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Can you see that we will be judged by the very words that we say? And really, we could say that our lives today can be judged by how we talk to, and about people. Our words will either justify us or they will condemn us. I don’t know about you, but I want my words to always be filled with enormous amounts of God’s grace, and seasoned with heavenly inspired salt. How about you? Every minute of every day we choose to either use positive or negative words.

In Ephesians 4:29 (NKJV) we are reminded again of the power contained in our words. It says, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouths, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” So here we see it again, our words can either edify or build people up, or our words can be used to tear people down.

Here’s today’s challenge. Let’s take inventory of all the words that we say today and the tone that we use to deliver them. Let’s see if we can change the quality of our worlds as we change the quality of our words.

Real Friendships Always Cost Something!


"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24, NKJV

Isn’t it great to have friends who really care about your life and invest themselves in your friendship? We were really blessed this week by our friends John and Sharon Hull from Atlanta. They invited us to come down this week and stay with them for the sole purpose of introducing us to some of their friends. It was a super cool thing for them to do for us. It’s one of those life experiences that you could never put a price tag on. It really meant a lot for us when they opened up their world, and invited us to get to know their friends.

But this act of kindness and generosity is a reminder of the cost associated with having friends. You’ve probably figured out by now that friendships aren’t easy, and on top of that, they always cost something. But, there is a great return on the investment—it’s called a full and satisfying life. Here are a few random thoughts about friendships:

(1) Friends usually see the good things in you that you don’t always see in yourself. Isn’t it totally awesome that your friends just like you…because…they like you? Even on those days that you don’t like yourself? I believe that God brings us friends as a way to remind us that He likes us too.

(2) Friends take an interest in your life and they make sure that the things that matter to you, matter to them.

(3) Friends will defend you when other people say nasty things about you. They always see the best in you because they believe in you. I love how today’s verse says that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. You see a brother is your brother no matter if things are good or bad, up or down – you’re just stuck. Well that’s what a good friend will be. When others abandon you, they’ll be there.

(4) Friends would rather stay up late and talk all night than sleep because they cherish the time they get to have with you.

(5) Friends would rather buy something for you than buy something for themselves because they value you and your friendship.

(6) Friendships take lots of time to develop, and to have good friendships requires a commitment from both parties. Strong relationships can’t be microwaved; they need time in the crock-pot. So find ways to connect regularly with your friends by phone, email, over coffee, or through a dinner or lunch once a month. Do whatever it takes. It won’t be wasted time.

(7) Friends will help you laugh till you cry. They’ll give you their ear when you just need to talk through something that is important. They’ll even help you pick up the pieces when your life seems to be falling down around you. Why? Because they are your friend.

So, how are you doing? What friendships do you need to be cultivating in your life? Go ahead – make that phone call, send out that email and start making friends. Remember, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” Don’t wait another minute; it’s so worth the cost!

Jesus Love Me This I Know


"[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!" Ephesians 3:19, AMP

Did you know that there isn’t a thing you have to do today to earn the love of God? God is absolutely head-over-heels in love with you. Do you ever find yourself doing this? Trying to earn the love of God, or trying to do something—anything—that will cause God to accept and approve of you? Well, none of your silly efforts can do a thing to cause Him to love you any more than He already does. I know that is a little hard to grasp, but it’s true.

In Romans 5:8 (NKJV) we’re told that, “…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He showed the world, and He showed us, that even though we were separated from God because of our sin, He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. That’s proof positive that He must love us without conditions. Because when we were in our worst condition He gave His all for us. But that kind of commitment and sacrifice is so contrary to the way this world works, it sometimes just seems like just empty words.

That must be why the Apostle Paul was led to pray that we would, “…come to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:19, AMP) His prayer is so personal and yet so practical. He prayed that we would come to know practically, through our own experience, the love that Jesus has for us. So, the million-dollar question is, why? Why is it so important that we experience God’s love for ourselves. Well that’s easy, because when we fully understand and experience God’s love on a personal level it will absolutely, completely and totally change how we live our lives.

1 John 4:19 in many translations says, “We love Him, because He first loved us.” Well actually, the more accurate translation is, “We love, because He first loved us.” In other words, when we come to know and experience God’s love on a personal level it affects every area of our lives. When we experience firsthand God’s love for us, then we can truly learn to love others. Even those folks who aren’t so easy to love. But it goes way beyond that – we love God, we love life, we love our friends, our work, our families – we become loving fools. All because He loves us. It’s contagious!

So, today I pray that God will find ways to make His love for you more real than ever before. I pray that God’s love will totally rock your world in such a way that you’ll never ever be the same.