Christ-follower, Husband, Dad, Pastor

transformation

March 29, 2013

God’s Plan + Your Obedience = Great Victory

The church where Patti grew to know and to love Jesus Christ is Central Assembly in Boise, Idaho. Patti and I were married there in 1987 and we were honored to have Pastor Ted Buck be a part of the ceremony. Patti’s parents are still members of Central. I appreciate the years of faithful ministry by Pastor Ted. Recently, he commented on how Achan’s subtle sin brought disaster right after Israel’s wonderful victory over Jericho. Pastor Ted shared:

1. When you do what God wants you to do and you do it His way, the way that He tells you to do it, you will have the result that God intended.  You will be the recipient of a victory in your life courtesy of God’s power.  Think of it like this:

God’s Plan  +  Your Obedience  =  Victorious Life

2. When you choose to do things your way, even just a little differently than how God said to do it, it will always usher some type of defeat or failure into your life.  You will not like the result.

God has good plans in mind for you today, but yielded obedience is necessary. “I am grateful that God always makes it possible for Christ to lead us to victory. God also helps us spread the knowledge about Christ everywhere, and this knowledge is like the smell of perfume.” (2 Corinthians 2:14 CEV) As you yield to God’s plan with obedience, you will enjoy the blessed life prepared for you.

Ultimately, God’s master work, His Will is for you to conform to the image of Christ: “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son.” (Romans 8:29 MSG) God is THE Master Artist and “we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)

Michelangelo is a name synonymous with artistic aptitude. Yet of the forty-four sculptures he attempted, he finished only fourteen (Ken Gire, Shaped by the Cross, p. 115).

Then there is the final work of his life, the Rondanini Pietà, on which he worked for ten years. [Giorgio] Vasari [a Michelangelo contemporary] writes that Michelangelo “ended up breaking the block, probably because the latter was full of impurities and so hard that sparks flew from under his chisel.” The sculpture was rescued by a servant and survives to this day. It bears the marks of Michelangelo’s chisel, but none of the beauty of his earlier work Pietà. . . .

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The same dilemma exists for those of us who are the work of God’s hands. In an attempt to free the image of Christ that is encased with the stone of the self, God begins chipping away everything that isn’t Jesus. The stone of our lives either submits to the chipping or it resists.

If it submits, features of the Savior begin to emerge from our life. If it submits long enough, the Savior himself emerges. If, however, it resists, and continues to resist, there will come a day when God will let the stone be stone.

C. S. Lewis said as much when he stated that there are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “Okay, go ahead and have it your way.” (Shaped by the Cross, p. 116).

I pray that you will surrender to God’s plan and live in obedience. Victory and Christlikeness is God’s will for you. Don’t settle for less.

When you finish reading today’s blog, I encourage you to go and watch “God’s Chisel”. I enjoy the humor and lessons of TheSkitGuys and “God’s Chisel” communicates!

March 20, 2013

7 Steps For Good Habits

I am not sure who originally authored the steps below. I cannot remember from whom I picked it up and I think I have altered them. I have used the ideas for several years, so by some “preacher standards” – they are mine now! The wisdom is too good not to share.

Here are seven practical steps to start, establish, and maintain good habits.

Step One: Desire

You must start with a strong desire. You must be internally motivated. External motivations don’t last. If you start only half-heartedly, you will never make it to the success point. “The desire of the righteous turns out well, but the hope of the wicked leads to wrath.” (Proverbs 11:23 HCSB)

Step Two: Decide

Begin right now! Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. You don’t slide into a new habit. “One of these days” never arrives. You must have a starting point. “And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called ‘today’.” (Hebrews 3:13b CEV) It’s easier to break a bad habit today than it will be tomorrow!

Step Three: Declaration

Announce your intentions publicly. Make a covenant or resolution. The power of a vow is awesome.  “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, be prompt in fulfilling whatever you promised him.” (Deuteronomy 23:21a NLT) It is particularly powerful if you put your commitment in writing.

Step Four: Determination

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Remember, the enemy does not want you to develop habits that help you grow spiritually and make you like Christ. “They [Folks opposing Nehemiah] were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination.” (Nehemiah 6:9 NLT) Satan will do all he can to tempt you, cause you to slip, or discourage you.

Step Five: Just Do It!

Whenever you feel the slightest urge or prompting to practice this new habit – DO IT THEN! Don’t wait. Seize every opportunity to reinforce your habit. Those feelings will not last, so whenever you feel inclined to perform your new habit, do so! Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” (Luke 9:62 MSG)

Step Six: Double Up

Get a partner who will support you and encourage you. Choose wisely. “Don’t be fooled: Bad friends will ruin good habits.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 ERV) Find someone who is willing to hold you accountable and check up on you especially in the early days before the habit is firmly rooted in your life.

Step Seven: Depend on God

Rely on God’s power to help you establish the habit. “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with Him.” (Colossians 2:6 LIVING) Pray! Yield to the Holy Spirit. Draw from God’s gracious strength. Keep going. You are walking into a good habit.

 

March 15, 2013

RENEW YOUR MIND

Two thought systems incompatibly collide, clashing within your mind. Earth-grounded-fleshly  and Heavenly-Kingdom-centered are the options. Which will dominate your thoughts? You have the power to choose what you think. You are the rancher for your own mind so get those wayward thoughts herded back in the right direction.

I am proud daddy today. Yesterday, my daughter Rozy spoke to the incoming president of ORU, Dr. Billy Wilson (during his listening tour of the university). Rozy was asked to represent the ORU School of Education, and she shared from her heart about the mission of the school and the call upon her heart to be a transformed educator that will transform the lives of others. Great job, Girl! I am certain you did awesome! If I had pictures, I would certainly post them. None yet, so this recent pic of Rozy playing a game will work for now. Simons aren’t competitive; we just like to win!

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NLT)

“Transformed” is a powerful word – like the change of caterpillar to butterfly or from tadpole to bullfrog – God’s Word is speaking of a radical, complete change from one form to another. Paul uses that same idea in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (HCSB), “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed  into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Allow the metamorphosis God wants within you. Don’t adopt the standards of this world, but allow Christ life to be formed within you. “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within.” (Romans 12:2 PHILLIPS) Don’t let the media that floods your thoughts on a daily basis push you into thinking like a person without a personal Lord and Savior.

Here are seven practical guidelines for allowing TRANSFORMATION in your mind.

#1  Fix and focus your thoughts on God.

  • “So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe.”  (Hebrews 3:1 MSG)
  • “Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ – that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” (Colossians 3:2 MSG)

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#2  Speak a determined “yes” to the Holy Spirit’s transforming power in your thought life.

“Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them – living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about.” (Romans 8:5-9 MSG)

#3  Submit your thoughts to God.

  • “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts.”  (Psalm 139:23 NLT)
  • “Lord, try me and test me; look closely into my heart and mind.”  (Psalm 26:2 NCV)

#4  Ask God to reveal His thoughts.

  • “Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness. I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” (Isaiah 55:6-8 MSG)
  • “That’s why we have this Scripture text: No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, Never so much as imagined anything quite like it-What God has arranged for those who love him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9-16 MSG)

#5  Take control of what you think.

  • “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV)
  • “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”  (Philippians 4:8 MSG)

#6  Read and meditate on God’s Word.

  • “Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.” (Joshua 1:8 NLT)
  • “I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.”  (Psalm 119:15 NLT)

#7  Be quick to obey and to act on God’s Word.

  • “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” (James 1:22 NLT)
  • “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner on solid rock…Make daily choices to change our wrong thinking and mindsets.”  (Matthew 7:24 MSG)

Thinking and meditating upon God’s Word has a powerful impact on your thought life. If you apply God’s Word to your life, you will be transformed!

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