UNWAVERING FAITH

Keeping faith is about knowing that we are where God has placed us! 

From the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, we can learn such things as: patience, persistence, forgiveness, repaying good for evil, resisting temptation and how to depend on God.  These are the obvious lessons as we read his life.

However there are a couple of things about Joseph that may not be so obvious:

1.  Joseph in order to become the man of faith that God would bless, developed his faith through painful circumstances:

          - hated by his brothers

          - sold into slavery

          - falsely accused and imprisoned

          - forgotten by the butler

Through each of these circumstances Joseph was challenged to have faith in God for:

          - rather than being killed he was sold

          - as a slave he prospered

          - in prison he prospered

          - in Pharaoh’s kingdom he prospered immeasurably

God had his hand on Joseph’s life and Joseph new it!

2.  Joseph kept his faith during prosperity and success as well!  Success has corrupted more individuals than hardship ever has? It’s prosperity that often causes people to lose sight of their God-given vision or they attempt to bring it to pass through their own natural ability. Even with extreme wealth and power at his disposal, Joseph waited on the Lord and watched in faith as He brought the dream to fulfillment!  It is imperative to seek God and trust Him even more when things are going well!

Unwavering faith is about trusting God even when our circumstances appear to be completely wrong.  As with Joseph, our lives take many turns and most of it we have no control over.  Faith believes that God is still in it and working it through for good.

Romans 8:28a (NLT) ⁽²⁸⁾ And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God …..

I am also reminded of James 1:2-4 (NIV) ^(1:2) Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ⁽³⁾ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁽⁴⁾ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

One of the most amazing things that Joseph said when addressing his brothers is recorded here in Genesis 50:20 (NIV) ⁽²⁰⁾ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

May you be encouraged to continuously look to God and keep your faith in Him to finish what He has started in your life!  It may not look like He is involved or even cares.  But He is and He does!  Trust Him and believe that He has placed you right where He wants you!

Read: Psalm 90:10-17 & Romans 8:28-39

MAKING A CONTRIBUTION

You were made to make a contribution, not just to consume! 

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God made you to make a difference.  And what matters is not how long you live, but how you live. What matters is not the duration of your life, but what you do with the life you have. We’re all meant to give something back.  We’re all meant to make a contribution.  The Bible says we’re created to serve.

Now the Bible has a word for this, it’s called “MINISTRY”.  This is a misunderstood word.  When I say the word “minister” most people think of priest or pastor.  But the Bible says every believer is a minister.  Now, not every believer is a pastor, but every believer is a minister.  Ministry simply means using my gifts, abilities, personality, to help someone else in the name of God.  Any time you use your talents, your abilities, your background, your experiences to help someone else, you know what that’s called?  Ministering.  And you know what you are?  You’re a minister. 

In the Bible the word “service” and “ministry” are the same word.    So all of us are called to ministry.  So you say “I’m not called to ministry”.  Oh yes you are!  If you are called to salvation, you are called to serve. Any time you use your talent to help someone else, you are ministering.  You are serving.   

Now the good news is that God not only created us for service, He gave us a model in Jesus. You were created to be like Jesus Christ, and what did Christ do while He was here on earth?  He served.  Notice this next verse. Jesus said, "Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28 (TLB)

Note the following, because it is very important.  Your ministry is determined by who you are in your gifts, heart, ability, personality and experiences.  You want to know what God wants you to do with your life?  Look at your heart, abilities, personality, experiences and spiritual gifts.

One day Napoleon pointed at a map of China and he said, “There lies a sleeping giant.  If it ever wakes up it will shake the world.” I can’t tell you the number of times I have looked out over the church and said “There is a sleeping giant.  If everyone who attended Church, served; what kind of enormous spiritual explosion, would take over our church and community?”

Serving God is far more important than your career, it’s far more important than your hobbies, it’s even more important than everything else you can think of because they aren’t going to last. However, your service to God will last eternally.  You were put here on earth to practice serving.

Read: John 13:1-9 & Matthew 20:25-28

WALK IN THE SPIRIT

To walk in the Spirit is a growth experience.

The early church leaders depended upon the Holy Spirit to lead and direct them. This can and should be the same experience for all mature Christians. Jesus had foretold that when He returned to heaven; He would send the Holy Spirit in order to guide us and help us to understand the present and future.

The normal Christian life is a life that is led by the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:14 & Galatians 5:18).  He is to be as an inner compass, directing us in the way of Jesus!  He is the Spirit of truth and as such He becomes a reliable and trustworthy guide.

All of life is a journey.  In the Christian journey we are not left to our own.  We are given a helper and counsellor.  The Holy Spirit will lead us, show us and teach all that is needed for our journey.  In essence, the Christian is to “walk in the Spirit”.  Galatians 5:25 (NKJV) If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

How then do we walk in the Spirit?

1.  Be constantly yielded to the Holy Spirit.  Just as our cell phones need to be turned on in order to receive communication; we too need to be on so to speak, in order to receive the prompts from the Holy Spirit.  It may be something we are to say or it may be something we are to do.  Our minds need to be open to hear and we then must follow through obediently.

The Holy Spirit often communicates to our heart with a word of conviction or assurance.  When He’s moving us away from harm we often experience a heaviness, anxiety, apprehension or uneasiness in our spirits.  When He’s moving us towards blessing, we often experience a deep inner peace, an eagerness to what God will do or just delight.

2.  Follow the Spirit’s leading.  We are more likely to hear the Spirit if we are listening for Him.  We are more likely to see the Spirit’s direction if we are looking for it.  After we have heard or seen; we must believe and follow through by acting upon what we have received.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.  He is our helper.  Trust Him and the more you do; the more you will.  It’s a growing relationship.

Read: John 16:5-15 & Acts 2:1-4

KNOWING GOD

You’ll find what you are looking for when you come to know God.

God has placed deep within the human heart a longing to know Him.  We may not be aware of it or even acknowledge it but it is there.  It may manifest itself as feelings of dissatisfaction, dejection, isolation or unfulfillment.  A famous quote from Augustine the early Christian theologian and philosopher said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

When we come to really know Him; any empty feelings in life will be filled. God is what we need because He made us that way.

In order to really know God:

1.  Come to Him as you are.  Without pretence or keeping anything back confess your sins and accept your need of the Saviour Jesus Christ.  This is the beginning of a most wonderful journey you could take.

2.  Understand your need of dependence upon Him.  Countless examples from scripture tell of people whose only hope was to trust in the Lord for help and deliverance from their dilemmas.  We must trust Him for every thing in life and for the life to come!

3.  Make God’s business your business.  Do whatever it takes to understand the things that concern God and make those things your concern.

4.  Grasp His Word.  Read the Bible.  Study the Bible. Meditate on it.  Practice it.  Depend on the Holy Spirit to teach you.  John 14:26 (NKJV) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

5.  Follow Jesus.  Look to Him and follow His example and leading in your life.  Give Him full control over all you are, everything you have and in all you do.

Ephesians 3:16-18 (NLT) I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 

CHRIST IN US

To live the Christian life is to allow Jesus to live His life in and through us.

Every parent at one time or another has seen their child struggle with something they so desperately wanted to free them from.  Whether it’s the struggle of the teenage years or just the process of growing up.  We have all seen those who we dearly love, struggling and some how we would like to have been able to walk into their life and release them from their struggle so that they could again enjoy life to the fullest.

But this very thing is what Jesus Christ offers to every one of His followers.  Many Christians however, miss out in living an abundant (John 10:10) and victorious (1 John 5:4) life because they are hanging on to their life!

They attend church and read their Bibles occasionally and pray from time to time.  They may even be moved to take on a ministry assignment at their church.  They’re going through the motions of a Christian but deep within they know that they are missing out in the joy, peace and power they know should be there.  This is not the life that Jesus envisioned for His followers.  Rather it was to be a life lived above the world.  A life of joy, faith, hope and trust.  A life of abundant living as a victor.

So what is the problem?  They have not come to that place in which they themselves have been crucified and thereby allowing Jesus to live in them and through them!  For they are still in control and have not come to that place of surrendering it completely to Christ! They in essence are living the desert life. (see Deuteronomy 2 ff) They were God’s people, He looked after them but they never experienced the promised land life.

When the Christian places self will, self desires, self assurance, self dependence and every other self upon the cross of Christ; He then becomes their life.  It is no longer their life; it’s His life.  In this life relationship you now listen to Him; live for Him and walk according to His will.  It’s a complete passing of control from yourself to Him!

If self continues to rule your life then you will be in bondage to it.  It remains your master.  Jesus Christ calls us to give it over to Him.  Christ is calling us to crucify it so that a new resurrected life of Christ would rise up in us!

The Apostle Paul was able to say, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;” Galatians 2:20a (NKJV)

In your life today is it still “I not Christ’ or are you able to say “Not I, but Christ”.  If you cannot yet say the latter; then pray now and ask Him to show you and help you to die to self and to the notions of what you think the Christian life should be so that you can experience promised land life in Him!

Read: Colossians 3:1-11 & Galatians 2:20

SIGNIFICANCE

It’s significance in life that makes a lasting impact.

How do you live a significant life?  The kind of significant life that God wants us to live?  Peter, at the end of the book I Peter, in a few short verses sort of gleans a lot of what he learned of how to live the significant life from Jesus Christ.  He says, here's what I learned from Him about significance that can happen in your life.

At the end of His life, Jesus Christ was able to say, in John 17, a prayer the night before He died on the cross, He prayed, "Having finished the work that you gave Me to do, I brought you glory on the earth."  Even when He was on the cross with His last dying breath, Christ was able to say, "It's done.  It's complete." 

Wouldn't you like to be able to end your life that way?  With a real sense of I finished it, it's complete?  Peter shows us some things about Jesus Christ.  He saw how Jesus Christ lived significantly in His relationships with other people.  He shares with us some of the ways you and I can learn from Him.

Significant living happens when you……

Start Serving.  Matthew 23:11 (NIV) The greatest among you will be your servant.

That's simple isn't it?  Simple clear, to the point.  If I'm going to be the greatest, I have to be a servant.  If you really want to have a significant life one of the questions you have to ask yourself is this, "Where can my life have the most impact?   How can I best use my time?"  Jesus said to be the greatest, be a servant.

Servants choose desire over duty.  1 Peter 5:2a (NIV), serve as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be;

Duty doesn't work to impact other people, but desire does, and a willingness does.  If we want to have a significant impact on people we have to change all those "shoulds" we have in our lives into "wants".  Four words that never will change the world:  "if I have to".   It takes desire to change the world.  Can you imagine Columbus talking to the Queen of Spain who's saying "I want you to go to the other side of the world and find this new country or a way to China" and Columbus say, "I'll go, if I have to".  Or Neil Armstrong getting ready to step out on the moon and calls back to Mission Control, "Do I have to?"   Desire is what makes the difference in life.  The ability to say, "I have a willingness to do this.  "If I have to" can be a very dangerous way of thinking. 

How do you change "shoulds" into "wants"?  How do you change those duties in your life into desires?  You can begin to want to love your kids again or want to love your wife again.  You can begin to want to serve God again.  That can happen.  How do you do it? 

Pray, "God, I'm willing to be made willing."  This makes God your partner.  All of a sudden you're not in it alone.  You're asking for His help to change your heart.  You can't change your heart by yourself anyway.  Whatever you're struggling with, look to God and say "I'm willing to be made willing".  Choose desire over duty.

Servants choose giving over getting. I Peter 5:2b "Don't be greedy for money, but be eager to serve."  In other words  "Don’t ask: `What can I get?' but rather ask: `What can I give?'"  Are we more naturally interested in getting or giving?  Giving has power that we don't recognize sometimes.  Getting sometimes seems like the answer.  It can seem so important to us but Peter reminds us here that you don't make a lasting impact by what you make.  You make a lasting impact by what you give in life. 

We tend to equate having money with having influence. Is having money the problem?  No.  You can use money to give to others.  It's greed that's the problem.  Don't be greedy for money.  It's the unquenchable desire to get more that's the problem.  Greed keeps you from being satisfied with what you have.  You're always reaching for more.  Money can be very deceiving.  It looks like you're making an impact when all you're doing is building a bank account. Peter says instead of focusing on that, be eager to serve.  Be chomping at the bit to make a difference in other people's lives.  Giving, through serving, is where it's all about. 

Servants choose to be an example over being in control.  1 Peter 5:3 (TEV) Do not try to rule over those who have been put in your care, but be examples to the flock.

Don't be like a ruler over people you're responsible for, but be a good example to them.  You don't make a lasting impact by telling people what to do.  You make a lasting impact by showing people how to do it.  Would you agree that the world certainly doesn't need more people to tell us what we should do?  It needs more people to show us how to do it.  You can say "Do as I say, not as I do" as many times as you want.  But guess what they're going to do?  They are going to do as you do.  Our example is what has power. 

Mahatma Gandhi the political and spiritual leader in India during their independence movement commented once about Christianity: “I like what I see in Jesus Christ but not what I see in his followers.”  Do you want to be a Christian of significance?  Be a great example.

Read: Psalm 145:1-21 & 1 Peter 5:1-7

FORGIVING

Freedom comes to the offended when we forgive the offender.

When we are unwilling or unable to forgive someone; it places us in bondage!  In this state we carry the pressure and weight of un-forgiveness within us.  The crime of the offender continues to hurt us because we have not released it!

How do we forgive someone?

1.  Realize how much forgiveness we ourselves need.  By understanding the depth of our own sinfulness and the cost of the sacrifice paid by Jesus Christ helps put it into perspective.  Comprehending the depth to which we have been forgiven; gives us no reason to not forgive others.

2.  Surrender the debt we feel owed to us; giving it all to Christ.  In this way we release the offender by giving it to Christ.  Simply put we pour out our case with all the facts, feelings and emotions directly in conversation with our Lord.

3.  Release others from any responsibility to meet our needs.  This is about accepting people the way they are.  When others do not treat us or respond to us the way we expect them to,  we get hurt.  We can overcome this kind of interaction by never putting our expectations upon others.

4.  See others that we have forgiven as instruments God uses to teach us.  God uses people to stretch , grow and mature us.  Ask anyone who has raised children!  Even Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers was able to say to them many years later: ²⁰ But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

5.  Do what you can to restore the relationship.  This may require us to contact them and offer an apology.  There are times we’re not even sure what we did; in which case just explain it as such offering to make amends.

What if it happens again?

We need to remind ourselves that forgiveness is an act of the will and that it is for our benefit.  All the feelings of the past hurts will probably rise with you.  Don’t give Satan this ground in your life.  Stand firm in your commitment to forgive and forgive again if necessary.  The person offending you may never change and it’s God’s business to change them.  Our part is to be free from the bondage of not forgiving.  As we focus on the One who has forgiven us, it in turn will set us free.

Read: Matthew 18:23-35

FORGIVEN

To be completely forgiven bestows total freedom!

Some people never fully grasp God’s forgiveness in their lives.  Sins from their past continue to beat them up because they fail to accept or understand God’s complete forgiveness.  Defined, forgiveness is “the act of setting someone free from an obligation resulting from a wrong done against you.”

Forgiveness has three parts:

1. an injury.

2. a debt resulting from the injury.

3. a cancellation of the debt.

Our sin has injured and offends God.  He requires us ultimately to pay the debt with death. This death includes not only physical death but also spiritual death which is an eternal separation from Him.  But through Christ our debt can be cancelled because He was able to provide one sacrifice so great to cover all sin.

We read in Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

The result of their disobedience to this command was physical death along with a separation from God (see Gen 3:22-24).  But God still had compassion and He made them garments from animal skins to hide their shame.  This was the beginning of the sacrificial system to bring mankind back into relationship with God.

Ephesians 1:7-8 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

We are redeemed; that is we are bought back through the price of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Our forgiveness is a gift “according to the riches of His grace”.  Forgiveness is available for whoever will ask for it.  1 John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

All our sin has been nailed to the cross.  When Jesus was crucified it was not some sin or just big sin but all sin was nailed to the cross!  The sacrifice so great to cover all sin could only be made by God Himself.  We appropriate that sacrifice into our lives when we confess our sin and acknowledge Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.

God does want you to be free from the burden and bondage of sin.  When we can see and accept the total forgiveness offered to us in Jesus Christ; we then are restored in our fellowship with God and become His child.  In order to be totally free from sin we need to believe that the price paid by Jesus was big enough to cover it!  The Bible is clear that it was and therefore we can be free!

Romans 8:1a (NKJV) “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”

PATIENCE

It takes a long time to grow and mature fruit.

Waiting is hard to do!  That’s why we like the express (lane), fast (food), rapid (transit) and quickie (stores).  There’s nothing that raises one’s blood pressure faster than arriving at the checkout line with fifteen or more people ahead of you!  When it comes to patience; what ever we want, we want it now!

God’s Word however is clear that most of life’s greatest lessons are learned by waiting.  It’s been said that “waiting rooms can be hard classrooms”.  God’s Word tells us that he will compensate those who’ll wait on Him.  Without a doubt we want the compensation but it’s the waiting that becomes our problem.

Most would agree that nothing great is ever accomplished without persistence and patience.  Just ask any entrepreneur who gets his idea to become a reality.  Those who succeed in life are usually those who are willing to do what they don’t feel like doing!  No one feels like waiting; so why does God so often make us wait?

1.  God makes us wait in order for us to discover His will.

Lamentations 3:25 (NKJV) The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.

Even as we wait, God is doing a work.  As we wait our focus is upon Him.  We’re looking to Him to show us the way or provide what’s needed.  It keeps us dependent upon Him.  That’s where our focus should be.  That’s where our dependence needs to be placed.  He is to be our Lord and the one who is directing our lives.

2.  God makes us wait in order to increase our endurance and strength. (See Isaiah 40:29-31)

If we are able to appropriate or achieve whatever we wanted; we would never seek God or His help.  It is in our weakness that God reveals Himself.  When we admit our need of God; it then allows Him to do a work in us.  Being patient and waiting on God increases our faith, endurance and strength!  The weak seek instant gratification; the strong can delay it and wait for it.

3.  God makes us wait in order for us to give Him the glory.

 Isaiah 64:4c (NKJV) “God acts for the one who waits for Him.”

While we’re waiting; God is working on our behalf.  Don’t be misled into thinking that nothing is being done because you cannot see it being done.  Consider Jesus who at this very moment is continually mediating on your behalf with the Father!  (see 1Tim 2:5)

Therefore, when God does act and we experience His goodness, we will know without a doubt that He had done it and we will praise Him for it.

It takes a long time to grow a fruit tree before it bears fruit.  With constant pruning and care by the gardener the time will come for the tree to bear its fruit.  But it takes patience!  God is the expert gardener.  Trust Him and wait for Him because the fruit will be worth it.

SUFFERING

Suffering of God’s people is never void of a purpose.

Troubles, difficulties, pain and suffering have an element of mystery as to why?  The Bible gives glimpses of what God may choose to do through our sufferings.  Although there is no comprehensive explanation for suffering in the Bible; there are some purposes we can glean from it.

In our sufferings, as God comforts us; we can, in turn comfort others.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV) ^(1:3) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁽⁴⁾ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

John Wesley prayed  “Lord let me live not to be useless”.  What God permits to happen to us may be the answer to such a prayer and desire.  Often we can only help others as we ourselves have trodden the path they have to tread.

Nothing is ever wasted in God’s school of suffering.  The Christian receives in order that he/she may pass on that which they received.  It is in the same way that we are blessed so that we may be a blessing to others.

2 Corinthians 1:7 (NIV) ^(1:7) And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

In our sufferings, God allows us to come to the end of our selves so that we may come to rely on Him.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (NIV) ^(1:8) We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. ⁽⁹⁾ Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

Paul is alluding that there were times in his Asian missions tour that were very hard and produced much suffering.  Paul was under considerable distress.  Often life circumstances press us further than we have the ability to deal with and threatens to crush us or utterly defeat us.  Paul came to the end of himself “feeling the sentence of death”.  In other words it was hopeless.  It may have been on a spiritual or physical level but in either case Paul was in desperate straits

God however, gave the strength to endure.  God allowed it to happen to Paul and his companions so that they would not rely on themselves but on God “who can raise the dead”.

Self reliance is the greatest problem within our society today!   It can also become the downfall for many Christians.  We all have strengths and God given gifts but we cannot put such a degree of confidence into them that we do not turn to God.  God is to be our focus;  God is the one we praise.  God often has to teach us through hardships not to rely on ourselves but upon Him and He will keep putting us there until we learn!

In our sufferings, God teaches us to trust Him as our deliverer.

2 Corinthians 1:10-11 (NIV) ^(1:10) He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, ⁽¹¹⁾ as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul deliberately sets his hope on God’s deliverance. Paul knew that the help he and his friends needed could come only from God and to Him alone therefore they looked.  He knew that intercessory prayer,  helps God’s rescue plan,  in His scheme of deliverance.

An important part of Christian fellowship is praying for one another.  The person going through hardships may find it hard to pray or at a loss as to what to pray.  God the Holy Spirit often places upon the hearts of others the requests to be made to God for them.

Read: Psalm 71:17-21 & 2 Corinthians 1:3-11

FOCUS

If all you do is forget the past, you may just have amnesia. Successful people are goal oriented. They focus on the future.

Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal."

Successful people are goal oriented.  Paul had a single priority. The most common disease for many people today is fragmentosis, which is trying to do one hundred different things at the same time.  Jack of all trades; master of none. For many people it’s all about multitasking.  Most people are spread out too thin. Like having to text message and drive at the same time or having two or three phones on the go at the same time.

Light diffused is powerless and weak. If you take light and concentrate it, you have a laser.  It is powerful. That is the power of focus. Life focusing on one thing is powerful.

If you want to be successful, there is a secret; focus.  Professionals concentrate on one thing. They specialize. You can't know everything, be everything or do everything.

The Apostle Paul says "I face my faults, forget the former and focus on the future and that is the one thing I do. I have my goal clearly in mind."

Less than 5% of the people ever write down a life goal.  It is not by accident that the 5% that do are the top leaders in their field. Write it down and focus on specific goals.

1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV) Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

There is a certain way of running, the way professionals run towards the goal.

What was Paul's goal?  2 Corinthians 5:9 (NIV) So we make it our goal to please Him.

There is no more rewarding goal in life than to please God. Paul wanted to be able to stand at the end of his life and hear Jesus say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant. You were faithful in a few things. Come into my joy." (Mt 5:21; 23)

The question we need to ask ourselves is: What am I living for?  What is my goal in life?  What's most important?  

If you don't know where you're going, nobody else does...... Focus!

Read: Philippians 3:12-16

COMPLAINING

A complaining Christian is a bad witness.

A young man joins a monastery and takes a vow of silence: he’s allowed to say two words every seven years. After the first seven years, the elders bring him in and ask for his two words. "Cold floors," he says. They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him back in and ask for his two words. He clears his throats and says, "Bad food." They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him in for his two words. "I quit," he says. "That’s not surprising," the elders say. "You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here."

Complaining is a kill-joy. It makes you unhappy and everyone else around you unhappy. The problem is that it is a hard habit to break. We are naturally negative. We tend to look at the bad things in life. We are conditioned by society. Bad news makes the headlines. We are bombarded continuously with what's wrong with everything. By our own nature and by our conditioning we tend to develop the habit of complaining.

The Bible says God wants Christians to be different. Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV) Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing..." and then he gives us three results. "so that you may become blameless . .." This means that when you don't complain,  nobody can find fault with you.  Nobody can point a finger at you. "... and pure..."  The Greek word here means "having integrity".   Non complainers are people of integrity.

"Children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe."   Our culture is so negative.  When you find a person who is genuinely positive they stick out like a sore thumb. The contrast is obvious.  They shine like a star in the middle of a dark night.  It is so different to be positive in this world, to not be a complainer, not be critical, not be a put-down person, that when you become that in your own life, you will shine like a star.

The point of the passage is Paul is saying that Christians are to react differently to the circumstances in life.  A complaining Christian is a bad witness. A positive attitude is a great witness; it has impact.

How do you make an impact in the world so that the world takes notice? Check your attitude. Be positive in a negative world.

Wouldn't it be great if the church had the reputation of "That's where all the positive people go. You never hear a complaint or grumble over there. That's the church where there is love, unity, harmony." Where there is harmony, love, unity you would have to lock the doors to keep people out. The church would grow automatically because people are looking for love. Every time you give a smile, shake somebody's hand, say "Hi", greet somebody, you are spreading love.  You're making a difference. You're making an impact. You're shining like a star in a dark world.

What would happen in your home if your family made a pact that they wouldn't complain, be critical, tear each other down?

Understand however, that you need a power beyond yourself, Jesus Christ.  He is the antidote to our culture and our nature.  He makes us new people inside.  Maybe the complaining is an embedded habit.  The only way that will be broken is by an external power in your life who will begin changing you from the inside out.

Read: Psalm 130:1-8 & Philippians 2:14-15

PERSISTENT PRAYER

Christians are to pray as long as it takes.

How long do you keep on praying when you don’t see an answer? 

Jesus knew that we can easily get discouraged about prayer.  So he told the story in Luke 18.  Quite a humorous story.  Jesus loved to use rascals as object lessons.  Here’s this tug of war between this powerful judge and this powerless widow.  The judge is hard-boiled, godless, unsympathetic, heartless, callous.  He couldn’t care less about this widow or anyone else.  Yet he has all the power.  The widow is powerless.  She has no clout, no leverage, no power.  In those days widows were at the bottom of the social ladder.  But she does have one thing.  Persistence.  She goes and begins to badger the judge saying, “I want justice.  I demand it right now.”  She really makes a nuisance of herself until finally the judge, exhausted, just gives in.  

There’s two kinds of stories Jesus told.  One is a parable of comparison: God is like this…  The other is a parable of contrast: God is not like this.

This is a parable of contrast.  God is not like this judge.  Jesus is saying, “If a heartless, ungodly judge will eventually give in to the request because it’s asked enough times, how much more will your Heavenly Father who loves you answer your prayers?” 

If that’s true, if God really wants to answer my prayers, how come my prayers aren’t being answered?  I’ve prayed for changes in my life and they haven’t taken place.  I’ve prayed for miracles and they haven’t happened yet.  It’s a legitimate question.

So Jesus told the story, Luke 18:1 (NIV) “He told His disciples a parable to show that they should always pray and not give up. 

Ephesians 6:18 (LIV) “Pray all the time.”  Romans 12:2 (GWT)“Pray continually.”  1 Thessalonians 5:17 (ICB)“Never stop praying.” 

Nowhere in the Bible does it say you can stop praying just because you get discouraged.  Nowhere in the Bible does it say you can just give up and quit because the answer hasn't happened on your timetable.  The Bible says, “Never stop praying… Keep on believing… Keep on asking.” 

Is there ever a time when I can stop praying for a particular issue?  Yes, there are two exceptions, two times when you can stop praying about a particular issue.

One, when God changes the situation, you can stop praying. In other words, He answers your request and the situation is changed.  If what you’ve been praying for happens, then obviously you can stop praying. 

Two, when God changes you, then you can stop praying.  Sometimes as God grows you and develops you,  you realize, “I don’t want to pray for that any more because that’s not what I really want any more.  I wanted that in that immature stage but now as I’ve matured, I don’t need that any more.  So I’m not praying for it.”  So God says it’s ok to stop praying.  God has not changed the situation but He’s changed you.

Somebody came to Daniel Boone the famous frontiersman one time and asked, “Have you ever gotten lost in the wilderness?’  He said, “No, I’ve never been lost.  I’ve been bewildered for weeks at a time but I’ve never been lost.”  When you’re bewildered you just keep on going. 

The point of the story is don’t be discouraged.  Don’t give up. Look up.  Don’t despair.  Turn to prayer. 

Isaiah 49:23c (TEV) “The Lord says,  no one who waits for my help will be disappointed."

Read:  Luke 18:1-8

ENDURANCE

 Endurance is what empowers us to finish well!

Someone recently described life to me as a football game.  Football games last for a total of sixty minutes and are divided into two halves of 30 minutes and four quarters of fifteen minutes.  All of the game is often lost or won in that last quarter!  As has been said before,  it’s never over until it’s over.  This is true in football as it is in life and especially the Christian life.  In the last quarter of our life; how will we finish?  What often makes the difference is endurance!  Endurance is the ability or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way.  It’s about giving your all and hanging in there until the end!  How do we endure in order to finish the last quarter well? How do we keep that driving force to help us reach the finish line? To reach the eternal prize and crown?

We can endure by gaining encouragement from those who have gone on before us. See Hebrews 12:1  

All those of faith are spoken about in Hebrews chapter 11: Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and all those who crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt.  We can add those who have gone on before us from our families and our church. They are all in the grandstands over looking this world and we are in the stadium of life.  They are called a “great cloud of witnesses”. 

We endure by keeping a single minded focus on Jesus.  See Hebrews 12:2  

Here is the secret of all success.  Having a single minded focus of what you’re after and trying to achieve. Distractions and temptations abound.  (See Parable of the Sower  Matt 13:3-9; 18-23) Victory comes to those who fix their eyes on Jesus by literally looking away from everything else and only towards Jesus! (see Phil 3:8)

We endure by being on guard against nor surprised by opposition.  See Hebrews 12:3

  

Opposition slows us and wears us down.  It’s the opposing forces in the Christian life that chip away at us outwardly and inwardly brings us down.  Consider the opposition Jesus faced.  It came first from the governing religious authorities and then from the governing government.

1 Peter 4:12-13   Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

Opposition against you will come.  It is opposition against Christ in you.  It comes at times from those who are closest to you.  Loved ones, family and friends. Don’t be surprised but be on guard.

We can endure by grasping the severity of our struggle against sin.  See Hebrews 12:4  

1 Peter 2:11   Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

In Hebrews 12;1 it is sin that entangles us and  here in 1 Peter sin wars against the soul. Sin is taken so lightly by our society.  In fact the line has been drawn so low today that no one trips over it any more.  But for God’s people running towards the prize, the line is very high and the struggle is great.  We must take sin seriously!  There is nothing that knocks the wind out of us more than sin.

The sidelines of the race course are littered with those who have fallen away because of their lack of  struggle with sin.  They have given in to it and not resisted it.  This is the easy thing to do.  “Everybody else does…. So why shouldn’t I?”

Lastly, we can endure by expecting to be disciplined.  See Hebrews 12:7

Discipline is part of being in a family.  Any parent that does not discipline their child; does not love their child!  The easy way for the parent is just to let them go commenting “they’ll grow out of it”.  But that is false.  Our society today is on the brink of outright lawlessness and it is going to get worse because of the lack of discipline!  Our society has banished the concept  and is, and will continue to pay the price for doing so.  Rev. 3:19   Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

If God loves you and cares about you; He wants the best for you; He will discipline you in order to move you towards living a life in your best interest.  Hardship is a part of God moving you closer to Him.

Matthew 13:23   But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

These are the ones who hear and receive the truths of God and use them to keep their endurance and are able to finish well!

Read: Matthew 13:1-23 & Hebrews 12:1-7

PAIN

The very thing that discourages you the most, God uses to develop you.

Pain is like a warning light and it’s saying something’s wrong in my life.  Now, is it wise to ignore a warning light?  No, it’s not.  In the same way, it’s not wise to ignore your pain; it’s saying something’s wrong.  However we need to understand that:  Pain is a tool God uses for good in our lives.  Now, the problem is we often don’t understand it; we don’t realize what the good is.  In fact, Jesus said in John 13:7 (NIV), "You don’t realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  And, nowhere is that truth more appropriate than pain because often pain comes into our life and we don’t understand why it’s there or what it’s there for.  We don’t see any purpose in it and if pain doesn’t have a purpose, it’s very difficult to handle.  It’s much easier to handle when you see a purpose behind it.

 

God can use pain to motivate us and spur us into action.  Pain spurs us into action like nothing else.  I’ve heard it said, “We don’t change when we see the light, we change when we feel the heat.”  Pr. 20:30 (GN) says, “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.” 

You see, pain prompts us to do things we’d rather put off; it prods us and it pushes us and it compels us to change.  Pain forces us to change when we don’t want to change.

God can also use pain to guide us.  In other words, like a bit in a horse’s mouth, God takes pain and He turns us in different directions because of the pain. Ps. 119:71‑72 (LB), “ . . . it was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws.”

Now, David is saying that pain is a teaching tool.  Has God ever had to get your attention through pain?  You see, God whispers to us in our pleasure, but He SHOUTS to us in our pain.  He says, “I want your attention” and boy does He get it when you’re in pain.  Sometimes it doesn’t take a lot of pain ‑‑ you know just like a little rudder can turn a big ship, sometimes just a little pain in your life will lead you in a new direction and God not only motivates us into action, but He guides us through pain. 

God at times will use pain as a  measuring tool.  God uses pain to help you see what you’re like on the inside.  For instance, when I experience pain, the way I react to it measures my faith.  My commitments can be gauged by how I react to pain.  My maturity can be gauged by how I react to pain.  My patience can be gauged in how I react to pain.  It’s one way of seeing what’s on the inside of you.

We understand that people are like tea bags ‑‑ you don’t know what’s in them until you drop them in hot water.  And, you really don’t know what’s inside you until you’ve faced the test of pain. 

Sometimes God uses pain to protect us from something worse.  Sometimes He uses pain to protect us and prevent us from getting involved in something that we shouldn’t be involved in.  Pain can be a blessing in disguise. For instance, if you have a fever, that is a way that your body tells you that you probably have an infection in your body that needs to be dealt with and, if you never had any fever, that infection could take over your body, you might even die from it.  In fact, a minor pain can often trigger an awareness of a life-threatening disease and, if you didn’t have that pain, you’d never know it and you’d be gone.  Sometimes God uses pain to protect us.

 

When we feel depression, or when we feel resentment, or anger, or worry, or when we feel apathy, or when we feel fear, or when we feel hostility, it is saying to us that something is out of whack in our life; something’s out of balance, and God’s saying, “I want you to get this corrected”.

 

Lastly, God uses pain to make us mature.  You’ve heard this phrase before:  No Pain; No Gain!  It just doesn’t come any other way.  There are no five easy steps to life wonderful.  There is no gain without pain.  The fact is, we want the product without the process.  What’s the product?  Oh, we want the maturity, we want the emotional stability, we want the health and wholeness, we want the confidence and the meaning and significance and purpose of life; but we don’t want the process which is pain and suffering, and tough times.  We want all of the stability and wholeness of emotions, but we don’t want to go through the process.  But, you can’t short circuit it.  The very thing that discourages you the most, God uses to develop you and it is not an accident.

 

James 1:4 (MSG) So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. 

Read: Psalm 27:7-14 & 2 Corinthians 1:3-7