I don't know about you, but my work subjects me to a lot of frustration. It seems that there are periods I go through where as soon as I solve one problem, another raises its head- and sometimes these problems take a whole day or more to solve. This frustration, left unchecked, could leave me very vulnerable to impatience with other people, any kind of escapist sin, and all kinds of temptations that otherwise wouldn't have a chance of getting my attention.
I think it is critical to see when we are vulnerable to sin, and to avoid situations that might lead us astray. Maybe when we are most frustrated is the best time to pull ourselves away from our lives, get connected with God, and remember that all this life we are simply visitors here and that are real home is elsewhere. Forgetting this important fact, we might take life a little too seriously, which despite the erroneous perception that to take things serious is to love God, we risk getting entangled in our situation and going astray. This ability to relax, to trust God, and let go of your circumstances and emotional struggles will keep you spiritually healthy, and sane as well. It seems to me that letting God into it gives me perspective, and perspective gives me peace- which we all need.
Hopefully I am not the only person whose work or life frustrating- and when life does get that way, hopefully you'll remember these words and they will bless you and keep you from sin.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Friday, March 24, 2006
Monday, March 20, 2006
Wisdom about Friendships
I want to talk about something from an angle that in my opinion doesn't get talked about very much, which is to arm the reader with relational wisdom.
The truth is, who we hang around plays a critical role in who we become. Do not think hanging out with people who don't love God or have a weak or stale relationship with God doesn't have its risks. You see, whenever we hang with someone, that person is in some fashion influencing us, and we them. The question is, how great is our influence with them versus how much an influence they are having in our own life. Do not deceive yourself- just because you are hanging out with an unbeliever does not automatically guarantee that you are leading them to Christ. We must be mature in this- and only let people with a similar or greater degree of maturity in Christ get close enough to us from an influencial perspective to mold our thinking in a positive way instead of away from God.
T.D. Jakes goes so far as to say that we should prune relationships where the other person isn't able to relate to you in terms of who you are becoming. The truth is we need people who can help us accomplish our destinies and often times we make the mistake of allowing people to get close to us for sentimental reasons instead of kingdome advancement reasons. These relationships can entangle us, and can be really hard to shake off- particularly if we have a hard time making new relationships. The key here is timing. Some relationships are so dangerous to our faith that we must do something about them immediately- where we are involved in circles of people who not only have no relationship with God but who are deeply entrenched in the world- these relationships, once recognized as problematic, must be removed quickly as they can entrench a person firmly in the world and quickly undercut and destroy a man's faith. Other relationships aren't nearly as dangerous and these (those that lack a common vision, that can't really help you press ahead in the seasons coming up) just need to be minimized as far as time spent, and allow God to prune it when needed.
Ultimately, as all of this is important, it is critical that you cultivate those relationships that can help you move into the seasons ahead. These are the people who will fight with you, either for a season, or possibly even for a lifetime. Invest in these relationships heavily, as they will make the biggest difference possible in your walk with God. And always keep an eye open for another person who can play this role- you never know where you might find it!
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
The truth is, who we hang around plays a critical role in who we become. Do not think hanging out with people who don't love God or have a weak or stale relationship with God doesn't have its risks. You see, whenever we hang with someone, that person is in some fashion influencing us, and we them. The question is, how great is our influence with them versus how much an influence they are having in our own life. Do not deceive yourself- just because you are hanging out with an unbeliever does not automatically guarantee that you are leading them to Christ. We must be mature in this- and only let people with a similar or greater degree of maturity in Christ get close enough to us from an influencial perspective to mold our thinking in a positive way instead of away from God.
T.D. Jakes goes so far as to say that we should prune relationships where the other person isn't able to relate to you in terms of who you are becoming. The truth is we need people who can help us accomplish our destinies and often times we make the mistake of allowing people to get close to us for sentimental reasons instead of kingdome advancement reasons. These relationships can entangle us, and can be really hard to shake off- particularly if we have a hard time making new relationships. The key here is timing. Some relationships are so dangerous to our faith that we must do something about them immediately- where we are involved in circles of people who not only have no relationship with God but who are deeply entrenched in the world- these relationships, once recognized as problematic, must be removed quickly as they can entrench a person firmly in the world and quickly undercut and destroy a man's faith. Other relationships aren't nearly as dangerous and these (those that lack a common vision, that can't really help you press ahead in the seasons coming up) just need to be minimized as far as time spent, and allow God to prune it when needed.
Ultimately, as all of this is important, it is critical that you cultivate those relationships that can help you move into the seasons ahead. These are the people who will fight with you, either for a season, or possibly even for a lifetime. Invest in these relationships heavily, as they will make the biggest difference possible in your walk with God. And always keep an eye open for another person who can play this role- you never know where you might find it!
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Got Vision?
Obviously I am not talking about whether or not those eyes on your head work properly, but what kind of future do you see for yourself? Where are you going? I think the biggest challenge to vision is being able to set aside what we believe can be accomplished on our own. It is hard to see how God steps in and makes a difference. My own weakness has made it very difficult to have vision for my life. I am doing better than just subsisting, but I am not sure I could argue that I am strongly thriving. Since I am not "strongly thriving", it is hard not to be content with the success I have so far and say that maybe it is impossible for something truly great to come out of my life. What scares me is knowing that I may very well be capable of accomplishing some very great things- and my unwillingness to believe it possible makes it impossible.
Here's a good question: what does it take to improve the scope of our vision? I think part of it is investing time thinking about it. There are a couple of things that seem to be recurring for me as far as what I would like to do with my life, though they need to be prayed through to find what God is saying in the midst of this. Part of the problem is in our definition of success. The American definition of success is to make lots of money and be able to do whatever you want, have whatever you want, and live a pain-free life. I am convinced this is very far from God's definition of success. God defines success first and foremost by how close a relationship we keep with Him all the days of our life. So maybe the person who is most successful in God's eyes would never even grab the world's attention- their success has nothing to do with any kind of worldly definition of success. Now who we become is the result of being close to God, and if we really get close to Jesus we realize that servanthood is a really good way to devote ourselves to him.
I do wonder if it might actually be more important for us to build a vision of ourselves based on who we want to become, instead of what we want to do. For who we become is so much more important than what we do- what we do is the raw material by which we are built into what we become. I see myself developing a real servants heart, becoming patient in difficult circumstances, always leaning on God when things get tough. I see myself developing a deep trust in God to the point of being willing to take great leaps of faith simply because I heard from God first and I know the character of the one speaking to me. Now I see what real vision is- hopefully you can see as well as I that who we become is so much more important than what we accomplish.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Here's a good question: what does it take to improve the scope of our vision? I think part of it is investing time thinking about it. There are a couple of things that seem to be recurring for me as far as what I would like to do with my life, though they need to be prayed through to find what God is saying in the midst of this. Part of the problem is in our definition of success. The American definition of success is to make lots of money and be able to do whatever you want, have whatever you want, and live a pain-free life. I am convinced this is very far from God's definition of success. God defines success first and foremost by how close a relationship we keep with Him all the days of our life. So maybe the person who is most successful in God's eyes would never even grab the world's attention- their success has nothing to do with any kind of worldly definition of success. Now who we become is the result of being close to God, and if we really get close to Jesus we realize that servanthood is a really good way to devote ourselves to him.
I do wonder if it might actually be more important for us to build a vision of ourselves based on who we want to become, instead of what we want to do. For who we become is so much more important than what we do- what we do is the raw material by which we are built into what we become. I see myself developing a real servants heart, becoming patient in difficult circumstances, always leaning on God when things get tough. I see myself developing a deep trust in God to the point of being willing to take great leaps of faith simply because I heard from God first and I know the character of the one speaking to me. Now I see what real vision is- hopefully you can see as well as I that who we become is so much more important than what we accomplish.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Sunday, March 12, 2006
The Life of Faith
In the last few years, my definition of what it means to live by faith has changed. For the longest time I thought this was in regards to salvation- I believed that living by faith meant trusting God that I would be saved, and that this trusting in God would keep me in God's hand and make it so that I would spend eternity with him.
The thing is, a guy named Graham Cooke is challenging this belief. It is not that this belief is inaccurate, just that this belief is inadequate. Living by faith really means being placed in situations where you must actually trust God for your circumstances to work out. An example of this from the bible would be Abram moving to a foreign country purely in obedience to the will of God. He had no guarantees from a purely natural perspective- how would he know that he wouldn't be killed by the land's current inhabitants? All he had was God's word. This way of living, this experiencing the life of faith for ourselves, is what God had in mind. He wants to take us to a place in which in hearing God's voice, we would be willing to get into situations where essentially only God can get us out, so that we might be completely dependent on him. Let me give an example from my own life.
At one point I was forced to move out of this college guys house, for reasons that involve the fact that I was not a college guy. Anyways, I temporarily lived in my parents house while figuring out what to do. I distinctly heard from God that I was to get a two bedroom apartment, and that God would provide the roommate. Doing this would require faith though- a two bedroom apartment is more expensive and I would have great difficulty affording it for any length of time on my own. I did obey God in this situation, and God did indeed come through- within a few weeks I had a roommate, which I have lived with and for the most part, got along well with for the last 6 months. The truth is clear- if anything, God wants to gives us many experiences like this so that we can come to a place where we deeply trust God.
My prayer is that you would come to a place where you trusted God like this. For then you really can perform miracles- the presense of God will be with you in a tangible way as you follow the leading of the spirit. We were born to know God's character, and yet we just give lip service to the idea of really trusting God. I hope we all develop truly mature relationships with the lord of all.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
The thing is, a guy named Graham Cooke is challenging this belief. It is not that this belief is inaccurate, just that this belief is inadequate. Living by faith really means being placed in situations where you must actually trust God for your circumstances to work out. An example of this from the bible would be Abram moving to a foreign country purely in obedience to the will of God. He had no guarantees from a purely natural perspective- how would he know that he wouldn't be killed by the land's current inhabitants? All he had was God's word. This way of living, this experiencing the life of faith for ourselves, is what God had in mind. He wants to take us to a place in which in hearing God's voice, we would be willing to get into situations where essentially only God can get us out, so that we might be completely dependent on him. Let me give an example from my own life.
At one point I was forced to move out of this college guys house, for reasons that involve the fact that I was not a college guy. Anyways, I temporarily lived in my parents house while figuring out what to do. I distinctly heard from God that I was to get a two bedroom apartment, and that God would provide the roommate. Doing this would require faith though- a two bedroom apartment is more expensive and I would have great difficulty affording it for any length of time on my own. I did obey God in this situation, and God did indeed come through- within a few weeks I had a roommate, which I have lived with and for the most part, got along well with for the last 6 months. The truth is clear- if anything, God wants to gives us many experiences like this so that we can come to a place where we deeply trust God.
My prayer is that you would come to a place where you trusted God like this. For then you really can perform miracles- the presense of God will be with you in a tangible way as you follow the leading of the spirit. We were born to know God's character, and yet we just give lip service to the idea of really trusting God. I hope we all develop truly mature relationships with the lord of all.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Thursday, March 09, 2006
The Fight
When it comes down to it, life is a fight. No, life isn't like a fight; it is a fight. Truth is, in all honesty those who have been walking with God long enough know that this fight has its ups and downs. Some rounds we win. Some rounds we get clocked. We all have our moments where we want to throw in the towel- the fight can be too much for us. We may not have anything close to the unbroken success we thought we would have going into this. I think viewing it as a fight can be a lifesaver to us- particularly when we realize that all Jesus wants out of us is to stay in the ring. He isn't asking you to not fall down, although falling down may make getting back up more difficult and so is better to be avoided. He just asks us to stay in the ring, and get back up after we fall down. It is nice when we can throw a few blows ourself, but as long as we are in the ring and we get back up after we fall down, and receive grace as needed, we'll be okay.
I want to encourage some of you out there who may be getting ready to quit. I know this walking with God thing can be tough at times and God can ask us to make decisions that aren't easy. Sometimes walking away from an addiction is the problem, sometimes we have dreams that are born out of selfishness that have to die. Sometimes our fears and doubts choke the life out of us. The truth is we were born to be loved by God. If you are on the brink of giving up, or even if you can tell that your frustrations with the Christian life are mounting, take a step back. Remember that while it is a fight, we all need those moments of just receiving love from the father and getting our own cup filled by the goodness of God. God will give you a time out of sorts where he will come to you and give you the ministry you need so that you can keep going, keep fighting. Just ask him. He doesn't hold back himself when we really cry out to him. My prayer is that you would come away from your special time with him rejuvenated and ready to fight another day. If you don't get what you need from God, what you try to get through other resources will eventually fail you and you may stop getting up- just going through the motions without fighting anymore. God's hand is outstretched- will you take it?
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
I want to encourage some of you out there who may be getting ready to quit. I know this walking with God thing can be tough at times and God can ask us to make decisions that aren't easy. Sometimes walking away from an addiction is the problem, sometimes we have dreams that are born out of selfishness that have to die. Sometimes our fears and doubts choke the life out of us. The truth is we were born to be loved by God. If you are on the brink of giving up, or even if you can tell that your frustrations with the Christian life are mounting, take a step back. Remember that while it is a fight, we all need those moments of just receiving love from the father and getting our own cup filled by the goodness of God. God will give you a time out of sorts where he will come to you and give you the ministry you need so that you can keep going, keep fighting. Just ask him. He doesn't hold back himself when we really cry out to him. My prayer is that you would come away from your special time with him rejuvenated and ready to fight another day. If you don't get what you need from God, what you try to get through other resources will eventually fail you and you may stop getting up- just going through the motions without fighting anymore. God's hand is outstretched- will you take it?
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Monday, March 06, 2006
Choose your pleasures wisely...
Hello!
Now I have had my share of high tech pleasures. To be sure, the occasional movie is fun and I recently bought season two of Quantum Leap which I have watched religiously pretty much two episodes a night. So I guess you might think it slightly hypocritical to wonder whether such pleasures should be the mainstay of our leisure time, but hear me out anyways. I am pretty sure I am right, even if I don't practice it to the degree that I would like.
I am convinced that the lower the technology involved in our leisure time, the less overwhelming and manipulating of the emotions, the more involved we are with someone else or God than the entertainment itself, the more life satisfaction we get out of it. When I get together with my friends, we talk. I have multiple rich relationships because I am willing to let them know me as I am and because I share myself, while getting to know them. There is something about simple pleasures that really remind a person about why it is good to be alive, why God is good- inspiring gratitude. I don't know about you, but I don't experience the same thing when I watch a movie; that is more of an escape than a simple pleasure. If life isn't satisfying to you and God seems distant and you need a change of pace, simplify your pleasures. Read a good book. Go for a walk- better yet, go for a walk in the woods. Pick pleasures that are closer to the pleasures originally invented by God for our satisfaction and see if you don't come away with a deeper sense of gratitude, a greater sense of feeling alive. And then, go and share what you experienced with someone else. Maybe if the world got what it needed from its leisure time, people would come to work more satisfied and content and less striving to get their next fix. Oh, you may experience some withdrawal symtoms- it may be hard walking away from your television fix, but just maybe you'll come away more joyous than you ever did coming out of that theater. If this works for you, maybe post a comment for others to read and let them know that simplicity, even in the smallest way, has its benefits.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Now I have had my share of high tech pleasures. To be sure, the occasional movie is fun and I recently bought season two of Quantum Leap which I have watched religiously pretty much two episodes a night. So I guess you might think it slightly hypocritical to wonder whether such pleasures should be the mainstay of our leisure time, but hear me out anyways. I am pretty sure I am right, even if I don't practice it to the degree that I would like.
I am convinced that the lower the technology involved in our leisure time, the less overwhelming and manipulating of the emotions, the more involved we are with someone else or God than the entertainment itself, the more life satisfaction we get out of it. When I get together with my friends, we talk. I have multiple rich relationships because I am willing to let them know me as I am and because I share myself, while getting to know them. There is something about simple pleasures that really remind a person about why it is good to be alive, why God is good- inspiring gratitude. I don't know about you, but I don't experience the same thing when I watch a movie; that is more of an escape than a simple pleasure. If life isn't satisfying to you and God seems distant and you need a change of pace, simplify your pleasures. Read a good book. Go for a walk- better yet, go for a walk in the woods. Pick pleasures that are closer to the pleasures originally invented by God for our satisfaction and see if you don't come away with a deeper sense of gratitude, a greater sense of feeling alive. And then, go and share what you experienced with someone else. Maybe if the world got what it needed from its leisure time, people would come to work more satisfied and content and less striving to get their next fix. Oh, you may experience some withdrawal symtoms- it may be hard walking away from your television fix, but just maybe you'll come away more joyous than you ever did coming out of that theater. If this works for you, maybe post a comment for others to read and let them know that simplicity, even in the smallest way, has its benefits.
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
Friday, March 03, 2006
What the Holy Spirit is saying
Some people reading this have probably never heard God speak or received ministry from the Holy Spirit. I wanted to take this moment and let the Holy Spirit speak what he wants to say to me to give you a taste of what it is like to hear the voice of God for yourself.
Sean, can you see me smile? Can you see that I have such peace for you? Let the voice of the critic inside you, restlessly destroying you, die. Don't you know that I have the most wonderful plans for you, that I want to do some new things in your life? This next season is going to be marked by an increase in ministry. Some of the fights you've been fighting will be over with the victory won. You won't have anything to prove to me, as your Father I love you as you are. You have no idea how much I just want to embrace you everyday, letting my face of love just heal your wounds. Sean, you won't need to be afraid anymore. Not afraid of falling, not afraid of losing my love. You couldn't walk out on me if you wanted to. :-D I would love for you to be astonished and amazed by me everyday, to be surprised at the smallest of miracles- from every prayer answered to the new thing each day I wish to do in your life. Can't you see I am here for you? That I literally adore you, long for you every waking moment, am actively looking to bless you, and am out to get you- not in some fearful way but as a father is out to find his son in a game of hide and seek? :-) Please just enter into my rest every day. Forget yourself in loving me and let my peace reside in your heart, and there you will find the strength you need each day to be lead by God.
I hope this gives you all a taste of what it is like to hear the Holy Spirit for yourself. Jesus died and went to heaven in part so that the Holy Spirit could reside in your heart and speak to you as intimately and tenderly as he just spoke to me. My request to you is to give him a chance. As one of my favorite teachers put it, "He is the kindest person I've ever met in my whole life." Let him be your healer.
Your companion,
Sean
Sean, can you see me smile? Can you see that I have such peace for you? Let the voice of the critic inside you, restlessly destroying you, die. Don't you know that I have the most wonderful plans for you, that I want to do some new things in your life? This next season is going to be marked by an increase in ministry. Some of the fights you've been fighting will be over with the victory won. You won't have anything to prove to me, as your Father I love you as you are. You have no idea how much I just want to embrace you everyday, letting my face of love just heal your wounds. Sean, you won't need to be afraid anymore. Not afraid of falling, not afraid of losing my love. You couldn't walk out on me if you wanted to. :-D I would love for you to be astonished and amazed by me everyday, to be surprised at the smallest of miracles- from every prayer answered to the new thing each day I wish to do in your life. Can't you see I am here for you? That I literally adore you, long for you every waking moment, am actively looking to bless you, and am out to get you- not in some fearful way but as a father is out to find his son in a game of hide and seek? :-) Please just enter into my rest every day. Forget yourself in loving me and let my peace reside in your heart, and there you will find the strength you need each day to be lead by God.
I hope this gives you all a taste of what it is like to hear the Holy Spirit for yourself. Jesus died and went to heaven in part so that the Holy Spirit could reside in your heart and speak to you as intimately and tenderly as he just spoke to me. My request to you is to give him a chance. As one of my favorite teachers put it, "He is the kindest person I've ever met in my whole life." Let him be your healer.
Your companion,
Sean
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Passing the test
Have you ever experienced one of those moments where you inadvertently passed a test of your character? It was one of those moments where you did what was right simply because it was the right thing to do? I just had one of those moments. I didn't do anything grand, all I did was point out that some of the hours I was paid for during the last month were vacation hours and not regular work hours. Yet this moment of honesty gives me ecstacy, knowing that in some unassuming way I still care about righteousness, that in my heart of hearts I still love God.
I'll tell you a secret. It is in these little tests that our relationship with God stands or falls. Ultimately little sins quickly amount to real distance between us and God. Usually we think that great sins are what lead to a person's downfall, but sometimes great sins are followed by great repentance- which leads to reconciliation. Little sins tend to mount, over time, and create a corrosive and distructive effect upon our relationship with God. We tend to trivialize them, not realizing the gravity of our own decisions. The truth is people who have sinned the worst have often been vulnerable to transformation- a glance at scripture will reveal to obvious cases of this, the king Manasseh, who was perhaps the worst king in Judah's entire history and yet repented and is with our Lord now, and Paul- who was leading the crusade against Christians everywhere as a murderer, who turned around and became a great servant of Christ. Even a cursory glance at Saul and David- a real argument could be made that David's sins of adultery and murder were worse than Saul's sins of disobedience, but clearly David lived in relationship with God, and Saul lived on his own. It is this "living on our own" that is the most dangerous to our hearts, for as the little sins mount they kill us by leading us away from the master. If only a sin would occur that would be great enough to wake us up to the whole game- then we might repent, and rebuild our relationship with God. As long as nothing wakes us up to our true position we might ever walk farther and farther away from God, all the while smugly believing that the true sinners are those who fornicate or murder or whatever. We may even still be attending church, for the church itself acts as a barrier to recognition of our true condition. My prayer is that if you see yourself slowly tolerating sin, slowly walking away from God, take this moment to beg God for forgiveness. Perhaps it isn't too late if you see yourself being snared...
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
I'll tell you a secret. It is in these little tests that our relationship with God stands or falls. Ultimately little sins quickly amount to real distance between us and God. Usually we think that great sins are what lead to a person's downfall, but sometimes great sins are followed by great repentance- which leads to reconciliation. Little sins tend to mount, over time, and create a corrosive and distructive effect upon our relationship with God. We tend to trivialize them, not realizing the gravity of our own decisions. The truth is people who have sinned the worst have often been vulnerable to transformation- a glance at scripture will reveal to obvious cases of this, the king Manasseh, who was perhaps the worst king in Judah's entire history and yet repented and is with our Lord now, and Paul- who was leading the crusade against Christians everywhere as a murderer, who turned around and became a great servant of Christ. Even a cursory glance at Saul and David- a real argument could be made that David's sins of adultery and murder were worse than Saul's sins of disobedience, but clearly David lived in relationship with God, and Saul lived on his own. It is this "living on our own" that is the most dangerous to our hearts, for as the little sins mount they kill us by leading us away from the master. If only a sin would occur that would be great enough to wake us up to the whole game- then we might repent, and rebuild our relationship with God. As long as nothing wakes us up to our true position we might ever walk farther and farther away from God, all the while smugly believing that the true sinners are those who fornicate or murder or whatever. We may even still be attending church, for the church itself acts as a barrier to recognition of our true condition. My prayer is that if you see yourself slowly tolerating sin, slowly walking away from God, take this moment to beg God for forgiveness. Perhaps it isn't too late if you see yourself being snared...
Your companion in Christ,
Sean
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