What on earth am I here for?

It seems that I am regularly talking to people who are confused about which step to take next.

Life is full of decisions and even as Christians the buffet of choices can be a bit overwhelming.

We pray and ask God to show us the next step and sometimes we feel He shows us, sometimes we feel like He’s withholding from us, and other times we feel He spoke but then circumstances get weird and we begin to second guess and question whether we really heard from God.

This little post isn’t meant to answer the question “How does God speak to us” and “how can we be sure it’s God”, but rather a different issue, but one that is of vital importance if we are ever going to get this “following God” thing right.

It has to do with our launch pad or starting point of decision making.

You see, most of us find ourselves in a situation where we are asking God to guide us and show us His will, but then we start weighing the options; Which choice has greater “earthly” benefit?

We all make decisions based on natural reason. Reason was given to us to operate on a daily basis, but if we are walking with Jesus then we have to be open to Him leading us in ways that don’t make sense. That’s where life moves from natural to supernatural, from just life to Life-to-the-Full.

Most of us look at a situation and say… Hmm, I should go to this school, because it offers this or that, or I should work at this job, because it pays more or has good benefits, or that couldn’t be God because it’s not a sure thing, it’s not a guarantee, or it doesn’t pay as much.

Here is where we miss it. We are asking the wrong question(s).

Do we really think God moves us to a place just to become informed, make money, get benefits, or because it’s a sure thing?

God’s ways, purposes, and plans are much higher than that.

What on earth am I hear for? NOT to get educated, NOT to make money, NOT to get good benefits, NOT to have it all and do it all. Material, Intellectual, and Ego gain are not high priority on God’s list.

Each of these (excluding unhealthy pride/ego) are a byproduct of following Jesus, but they are not THE POINT.

I don’t go to work to make money; I go to be a witness/missionary. God didn’t give me this job to make money or even make a living, He gave it to me as my mission and in doing it I will make money/a living.

God can send you anywhere to make money and get educated. In fact, He can do both these things without the aid of any man, so if we’re going to get better at this “following God” thing, then we must clear our vision from those things that are obstructing the view.

Jesus said, “31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:31-34

We are not to be trying to play God and figure it all out. We’re not to be trying to make sense of it all. That is great if we do understand and can see how it all works together and how it will work out, but we must learn to trust God and know that often times He leads us in ways we would never reason out for ourselves, because He is God and He knows factors that we do not.

We can trust that He is always desiring what is best for us, so though He plays outside the box of what we can understand in natural reason, we can understand one thing for certain… He loves us and wants what’s best for us and He knows what is best for us better than we do.

Jesus said that our launch pad for decision making is NOT earthly concerns/gain. Nor is our launch pad for decision making to be one based on worry (trying to be in control and figure it all out).

Instead THE launch pad for ALL decision making is “seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness”.

There you go! That is it!!!! That’s is why we are here!!!!! This is the starting point of my decision making process!

I should pray and ask God where He wants me to God, what He wants me to do, and then watch… not to see which choice has greater earthly benefit from what I can see and understand, but rather to see which choice God is moving in.

Where do I see Him more at work? Where do I see my life having the biggest impact for His kingdom? Where do I see myself growing in Christ the most? Where do I see my life shining the biggest light for Jesus? Where do I see myself compromising, getting distracted, settling, or getting involved in a lifestyle or behavior that is not right in God’s eyes?

When we get our eyes on the things of this world as factors in our decision making we can miss what God wants. That is what the non-Christian world chases after and lives for. That is their ambition and priority. Not so for the Christ Follower.

In fact, Jesus warns us how the earthly things (though they are not evil or wrong in and of themselves) can blind us to God’s best or choke out God’s guidance in our life.

“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” Luke 8:14 and “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Mark 4:19

Jesus said that the direction or message is given, but it is choked out, not heard, not clearly seen or understood, because of an earthly focus. As we get our focus on the worries of this life, riches, pleasures, and the desires for other things we get distracted or worse blinded and cannot see or hear clearly what God is saying and wanting to do.

So, let me say it this way…

You are NOT here on earth to build an earthly kingdom, for yourself or someone else. You are here to build an eternal kingdom.

The issue that gets so many Christians side tracked and confused on what God is leading them to do is that they get caught up in “seeking first their kingdom or the worlds kingdom and their happiness and provision and pleasure” instead of “seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”.

We don’t have to worry about chasing after/pursuing those things because Jesus makes it clear that all these things will be taken care of and given to us if we make our first priority His kingdom and His righteousness.

So, there you go. What launch pad are you starting your decision making process from… “What’s in it for me?” or “What’s in it for God?” Do I put my trust in what I can figure out and understand and make happen and control, or will I put my trust in God, even when his infinite wisdom and purpose doesn’t fit in my finite understanding, reason, and plans.

Only one launch pad is the right one. Only one launch pad will produce the results and kind of life that Scripture describes for the believer.

What will you choose? How will you look at things (from God’s perspective or earth bound perspectives)? How will you reason out situations? What approach with capture your heart and mind? What will you be caught up in?

Outside The Box

So, I was putting my kids to bed after our prayers and Bible reading and they bombarded me with all their spiritual questions like they always do (so they can stay up later) and we got onto the discussion of why God answered my prayers for a certain situation one way, but then didn’t answer them the same way in a similar situation, but instead answered the prayer in a completely different way.

It made me think about the series we are doing at church right now through the Christmas season, called “Ordinary”. We’re looking at the fact that God is in the business of taking ordinary people and circumstance and doing extraordinary things. In other words, God loves to “play outside the box.”

We all have a box, a set of boundaries and parameters that limit who God is and how God works. We all have this understanding and list of expectations of what we think God is like, how He would or would not do things, and so on. What I have found is that God likes to frequently do things outside of the parameters of what I know, understand, and am comfortable with. He loves to break out of the limitations and restrictions I tend to place on Him in my life and the world. The question is… Why? Does he just do it because He can? Is He a show off? Is there a reason for it? Yes. I’ll explain, but before I do, let me prove first that God likes to play outside the box.

1Corinthians 1:20, 27-31 20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

If ever it’s taught that God likes to work out of the box it is here in this scripture. Why? Partly to “show off”, to display His greatness, power, and wisdom, partly because He can and wants to so that our lives can be better, and partly because He wants us to see we can’t do it on our own, we need Him, and He alone is the answer.

We see all these things here, plus in other scriptures that reference God’s miracles as “signs and wonders”. What is a sign? It’s a message that “shows off” something good about a thing or place to get your attention so you’ll partake. It’s not the real thing, but it points you to the real thing.

God frequently defies our natural logic, understanding, comfort zone, and ways of doing things.

He calms storms with a word. He walks on water and enables others to do so. He casts demons out of people with a word. He made a lame man walk with a word. He healed a blind man by putting mud made of spit and dirt on the guys eyes. He enabled one disciple to survive boiling vats of oil without any harm, while He led another to lay down his life and be crucified for the faith. He provided for His servant through ravens. He cause a jar of oil to not run out for a very long time. He made an ax head float. He had His servant marry a prostitute. He had His servant lay naked for years on one side, only to tell him to flip and do it on the other side for a while. He used a pagan king to execute His judgment. He parted the Red Sea so His people could pass through on dry ground. He caused a virgin to be pregnant without the involvement of a man. He established His rule as King of the universe by entering our world as a humble servant and sacrifice.

Here’s another example of God playing out of the box.

Job 33:14 For God does speak—now one way, now another— though man may not perceive it.

As I understand this scripture, it’s not that God doesn’t talk/speak, it’s that He doesn’t do it the same way each time and thus many don’t hear Him, perceive Him speaking, or get the message.

Again we see God playing outside the box, not wanting to be stuck in the limitations of what we can fathom, understand, or are comfortable with.

Why?

Partly because of all we addressed earlier, but another reason is because God wants us to not only stand in awe of Him, but also trust Him and be passionate about Him.

God doesn’t want to have a formula that we just go through and begin to take Him for granted. God doesn’t want us to think we’ve got Him all figured out. He wants us to stay in a place of love, awe, trust, and dependence. He doesn’t want us to get stagnant and loose our passion for Him.

God is a person, not a vending machine. We have a tenancy to forget that, and so our “prayer lives” typically become the approach to the machine and the deposit of the money and the pressing of the buttons to get what we want.

God wants our “prayer lives” to be a conversation, and our lifestyle to be in “relationships” with Him. Yes, He wants to bless us and do things for us, in us, and through us, but in the context of relationship, not ritual or mechanism. And when God does do “His thing” in our lives He wants to do it His way and He wants us to trust Him that His way is the BEST way. It will be bigger and better than anything that we could do on or own or ask Him to do for us, but our way.

As I look back over my life of following Jesus I first have to say thank you to God for all the times He DIDN’T answer my prayers the way I wanted Him to. I thought I knew, but man I didn’t have a clue. Praise God He answered my prayers His way. Secondly I have to say that it is in those experiences of God answering my prayers His way that I’ve experienced the great adventure and joy of following Jesus. This things is so much bigger and more amazing and more awesome than we understand.

So, we may not always understand, or be comfortable, but we can always trust and follow knowing that God loves to play outside the box impressing His people and the world, wooing our hearts, and making this relationship the most exciting thing in the Universe for all eternity!

The sowing and reaping principle

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed... Matthew 13:31

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7

6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever." 10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2Corinthians 9:6-11

Based on these texts we see the Kingdom of God is based on a seed/sowing and reaping principle.

This is a breakdown of five key principles of sowing and reaping. There are other principles to entertain: Quality of soil, preparation of soil, quality of seed, tending the seed planted, and so on. A lot can be said for each of these.

The goal of this message is to address more of the outcome of the sowing and reaping as opposed to the full process from start to finish.

It’s important to note that these principles apply to every area of life, not exclusively to agriculture, finances, or whatever you might isolate it to. The fact is Jesus taught that this is the principle of the Kingdom of God, not a piece of it, but the whole thing. Every promise, every circumstance and issue, all of it!

Here are 5 key principles we need to understand.

1. You reap/harvest what you sow/plant.
If you want tomatoes don’t plant apple seeds. If you sow love, in time, you will reap love. If you plant material blessings, in time, you’ll reap material blessings. If you plant nothing, you’ll get nothing.

2. The degree/measure that I plant is the degree I will harvest.
The more seed I plant, the more plants will grow and the more fruit will be produced. One seed equals one plant, but usually more than one fruit grows on a plant, so the return on planted seed is a multiplied return, not just addition. God multiplies blessings upon us.

3. God’s plan is to make me abound (in context financially, but God intends for us to abound in all grace in every good work and this includes every area of life).
To abound means to go above. It means on a scale of 1 to 10, 11. Abounding means to exceed the need. In vs 8 we’re told God will cause “all grace to abound” (it’s His intention to exceed the need and provide richly for) so that we may “abound in every good work”. We’re told in vs 11, “you will be made rich in every way…” Rich meaning more than enough or abundantly supplied for, in every way. Whatever need I face material, physical, emotional, etc I will be richly provided for.

4. As the seed grows and produces fruit, remember that not all that fruit is for you to eat… within the fruit is more seed to plant and produce more!
It’s important to note that God gives us both seed and bread. Seed is for planting, bread is for eating. Note that God brings increase of seed first, so it’s increase for planting first then increase for consumption. Too many of us are quick to take the blessing of the Lord and consume it, but we’re eating our seed. This leads us back to principle #1, if I don’t plant anything I won’t reap anything. So, be prayerful and careful about blessings in your life. Why did God bless you in this way? Is the blessing bread to meet a need or want in your life or is it seed that God expects you to use to meet a need or want in the life of someone else? You can only answer this through prayer and discernment.

5. From planting to harvest is called a season. It takes time for seed to grow and produce fruit. It’s a process, not instantaneous.
We must understand that the blessing is not always an instantaneous result. Often times there is a season involved for the seed we’ve planted to grow, mature, and become fruit bearing.

Impatience will rob us of the fruit/blessing. Impatience will see no immediate fruit and say, “This isn’t working!” “This takes too long!” “This is too hard!” and quit. We get impatient and angry and we abandon the seed (watering it with our faith and praise), or we’ll cut down the fruitless plant before it’s season of fruit bearing. The bottom line is our impatience and lack of faith/trust in God robs us of what would have come to us in due season. We get angry at God about it, but who’s to blame? Not God, not even the Devil, it’s me! My own self is to blame, no body else.

Take the time to consider how these principles apply to your relationship with God, spouse, parents, children, friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, even your enemies.

Take the time to consider how these principles apply to your health, wealth, and so on.

The Test

2Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?

I read these words and they make me very uncomfortable.

Depending on the translation you read some have the words “examine yourself” first in the sentence while others have the words “test yourselves”, either way it’s unnerving.

Let’s break this statement down before getting to the meat.

To examine something is to make through inspection, leave no rock unturned. It’s a serious and focused look, not some casual glance.

A test is a tool to answer the question: do I know or can I perform enough to qualify. Am I really the real deal? Am I really a 10th grader, am I really a Green Beret, am I really a mechanic, am I really a follower of Christ/Child of God? Tests answer these questions and more.

We’re called to thoroughly inspect/examine our lives and to test ourselves to answer a very important question… am I in the faith.

Of coarse for some, they’ve never put Jesus in charge of their life and don’t claim to follow Him, so the answer is easy and obvious, but this scripture wasn’t written to non-Christians. It was written to followers of Jesus. This is important!

The fact we, as Christians, are told to test and examine ourselves to make sure we’re in the faith points toward a reality stated at the end of the verse… we can fail the test. It points to the reality that no matter how sincere and perfect we started out we can get off track/stray and end up outside of the faith.

Proof: Look at the story Jesus told to illustrate how the condition of people’s hearts determines their overall response to the truth of God’s word and it’s affect in their lives.

Luke 8:11-15 11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

This same story is found in Matthew 13:1-23 and Mark 4:14-20. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with all three versions of the story, because there is some details that each brings out that are worth noting.

According to this story Jesus teaches that not everyone will turn to good/ accept the word of God in their life. In fact, Jesus tells us about 25% of the people we share with will not accept it. (Hard soil along the path)

Well, 75% isn’t bad. Right? Wrong. Another 25% (Stony ground) will hear it and accept it but their commitment is shallow and because of their “what’s in it for me” attitude when hard times come because they follow Jesus they will abandon ship.

So, 50% of the people we share with, in the end, will not live for Jesus.

Well, that still leaves us 50% to respond to the truth, experience the life of God, and go to heaven! Right? Wrong.

Another 25% (Thorny ground) will believe and follow until something better comes along. They don’t cease to believe, but they don’t make following Jesus the number one priority in their life. They will focus most of their time, energy, thought, and effort toward the accumulation of things and experiencing a variety of pleasures that this life has to offer. While they believe in Jesus, it is these things that are priority to them and these things that they live for.

So, 75% of the people will be of no value to God in the advancement of His Kingdom here on earth. 50% in the big picture will not believe and live for God and another 25% believe (and may go to heaven), but produce no good fruit.

The final 25% (Good Soil) is the only soil that will actually have long-term deep commitment and will produce large quantities of fruit, thus personally experiencing the life of God and being of value to God in the advancement of His Kingdom here on earth.

Even in this final 25% there is variance from one person to the next on just how productive they will be.

I had some questions based on 3 scriptures to test themselves and examine their life with. They were: 1) Do I seek God first above all other things? 2) Do I Know God’s word, do I believe God’s Word, and do I do God’s Word? 3) Am I becoming more and more like Jesus in thought, word, and deed?

But, I want to provide another tool to test us and evaluate our lives with… this story from Jesus. WHAT SOIL ARE YOU?


It seems like it would be an easy question, but take the time to study the attributes, qualities, and characteristics of each soil, their experiences, their responses, their results.

I’ve done this study and am going to post it in the document section of this website.

I encourage you to take the time to figure out where your heart/life is in relation to following Jesus faithfully and experiencing the life He’s planned for you.

It’s important that the test isn’t made up by the ideas or opinions of some guy. Let God’s word be the source and standard of our test.

Take the test! Be honest. How are you doing? Are you all you thought and said?

You are not taking the test so you can be condemned, but so you can have an accurate diagnosis on how healthy your relationship with Jesus is, an evaluation on how well you are running your race!

The whole point of this evaluation/test is to find the areas of weakness and make improvements! Not see how bad we are and quit.

We want to know where we’re missing it and how, so we can correct the issues and really experience the life God promises us in Jesus and be all he made us to be.

God is gracious, merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, forgiving, patient and He is on your side. He wants you to win! He’s cheering you on and believes you can do it, you have what it takes, just don’t loose sight of the fact we are all human and have weaknesses and tendencies to stray, so we’ll need to make corrections regularly.

The Difference

I was having a conversation with a friend that led into the fact that the average stay of a youth pastor in a church is under 2 years and the average stay of most pastors is somewhere between 3 and 5 years, but the other reality is that the longer a minister stays at a ministry the more effective they and the ministry become.

So, we have an obvious problem, but interestingly it’s not a problem isolated to ministers and ministries. It’s a problem across the board of life.

The key issue is commitment/perseverance.

In America we are used to immediate gratification, instantaneous results, fast food, fast cars, fast relationships, fast money, microwaves, instant potatoes, you name it, and we face the same problem… less than great/best results.

Very few have learned what many of our grandparents knew to be true… persevering hard work pays off. They knew nothing is easy, nothing is perfect, and so you have to commit, work hard, endure the bad and enjoy the good, but above all… persevere.

In the lives of many people, if the relationship gets too boring or tough and requires work and sacrifice and discomfort, then we just get rid of it, and we apply this same principle to our work, church, and our relationships with God, family and friends.

Not only has our “microwave mentality” affected our commitment to long-term results, but so has another aspect of our society, namely the “disposable mentality”.

Very few things are built to last. It used to be if a TV, computer, or VCR broke, you would pay to have it repaired, but not any more. Now days, you just trash it and go buy a new one. Why? Because we all know that today’s products are not built to last, they don’t have the same quality as the products of our grandparents. Therefore, it’s cheaper and wiser to just buy a new product than pay the money to have the cheapo outdated product repaired.

This “disposable mentality” has also crept into other areas of life. If a job or relationship doesn’t seem to work right, doesn’t run smoothly, or down right gets broke, we just throw it away.

The effect of these two mentalities is tragic and catastrophic in our nation and around the world in industrialized nations.

First, we are a selfish people committed only to our personal happiness, comfort, pleasure, and so on. No one and no thing is more important than me and thus we live in a world where everyone is consumed with looking out for number one only.

No rule, relationship, or anything else is more important than trying to fulfill me and therefore, nothing is sacred, nothing has my devotion/commitment, anything can be broken.

If I’m not the center of the attention, if this thing doesn’t revolve around me, then it’s not real, has no value, and doesn’t have my persevering commitment.

Second, we are people who are shallow and have no depth/fulfillment in life. Because we break things off every time they don’t center on us, gratify us, or work out smoothly we have nothing in life to anchor us to reality or life in general. We are a people with no roots… no roots in our job, our relationships, our faith.

Thirdly, we are broken people. With so many people being the “discarded” in life, the one’s not worth the time and energy, we have a lot of wounded, broken, and empty people. Not only that, but by our brokenness we are a dysfunctional people who don’t know how to have fulfilling relationships, jobs, and faith. We don’t know how to stick with it, how to question and communicate without feeling that “fight or flight” mentality kick in, and how to accept that no matter how strong the relationship with another person their world does not revolve around just you, it’s not all about you. They have other people in their life that they love and care about too, and this reality doesn’t mean they love less, or are less committed, or that the relationship isn’t real and should just be trashed.

This brokenness not only effects our commitment in relationships, it effects our commitment to work, our commitment to personal health, our commitment to good stewardship of all God’s blessed us with.

So, the key… Choice!

Choice of what? Choose to commit unwaveringly to the things God has called you to; your relationship with him and those around you, your stewardship of your person and your material wealth, your work, you name it.

Have a persevering attitude. Not a quitter attitude. Don’t embrace the “Immediate Gratification Mentality” or the “Disposable Mentality” when it comes to the important areas of your life. Understand that a good experience and quality living in the area of relationships, wealth, health, and faith come through time, hard work, and weathering the storms and not giving up; in a nutshell the difference is… perseverance/commitment.