The Addiction of Being Liked

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A few years ago, I probably would have felt that I had things all together (maybe that should have been my first hint that something wasn’t quite right!). I was busy and fulfilled with my teaching job, volunteering several nights a month, teaching missions classes, and being involved with programs of all kinds. 

After I got married and had my daughter, my priorities and my schedule changed. At first, the shift in focus was exciting – something I had looked forward to. Over time, though, I began to miss my old activities and how they made me feel needed and appreciated. Now I had to say “no” a lot. I couldn’t be involved in things like I used to. In some ways I felt like I had been forgotten. When I wasn’t busy doing these “good” things, I felt like a lesser Christian.

Then several months ago, I started reading a book called Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian. In this book, among a lot of other good things, the author stresses the sufficiency of Jesus – not just for our salvation, but to rescue us from self-reliance, fear, insecurity, and so on.  Tchividjian says, “. . .the gospel alone can free us from our addiction of being liked. . . Jesus measured up for us so we don’t have to live under the enslaving pressure of measuring up for others” (p. 23). (If you want a reminder of Christ’s sufficiency in all things, check out Colossians 1.)

Since I realized this, I have had such freedom from the slavery of making myself more “qualified.” It doesn’t mean that I live however I want – my love for Jesus should me to obey Him. But instead of being self-absorbed and preoccupied with my own efforts, focusing on what Christ has done transforms my life and fashions both the details and overall purpose. For me, living like God is real means daily reminding myself of all that I already have in Christ!

 

How Much Time?

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At the end of class this afternoon, one of my Chinese teachers remarked that this would be our last weekend together as a class. Several of us were a bit confused as there are still two weeks left in the semester. Our teacher explained that she was simply joking about the idea that the world will end on December 21st. This topic sparked some discussion about what we would or should do if the world were to end next week. Our general consensus included spending time with family, spending all our money, and having as much fun as possible in the limited amount of time we have left. Surprisingly, no one wanted to continue studying next week. . .

We understand from God’s word that no one but God the Father knows when this world will end (Mt. 24:36). Therefore, we know not to worry or base our actions on what anyone tells us about when our time on Earth ends. However, today’s discussion in class caused me to reflect upon how we as Christians ought to live our lives. What if the world were in fact to end next week. How would we prepare to meet the Lord? What things in our lives would we try to change or remove? Most importantly, what would change in our methods of evangelism?

During this month, as Christmas approaches, we have many opportunities to share with others the true reason to celebrate. When Jesus ascended into Heaven after His resurrection, He promised that He would one day return. As we do not know when that day will be, we should be living our lives as if tomorrow could be our last day. Jesus commanded His followers to go out into all the world and share the good news of salvation with everyone. This is our responsibility and privilege, to prepare for Christ’s return by spreading the Gospel. Take the time you have been given to share God’s love with those around you.

 

Teach Me to Pray…

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Ephesians 6:18 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

Prayer is one of the most basic practices a Christian should engage in, but I confess that I am pretty bad at it.   There are many opportunities to pray for sure, but if I honestly evaluate those times of prayer, I find that I didn’t really pray. When others are leading in prayer, I’m often not following. When I’m praying in public, it’s sometimes more like an impromptu speech with my eyes closed.

It’s not much better in private. I made a prayer journal, complete with photos of people, but I barely use it. Every week, my job is to minister to youth through teaching, small groups, or music…but I usually plunge right into the work without taking time to ask God to do His work.

I tried to figure out why I’m such a weak prayer warrior. Am I just that lazy? After all, fervent prayer is seriously hard work. That is part of it; they aren’t called spiritual disciplines for nothing. But I also realized that I lack the motivation to pray because I don’t really understand how prayer “works”. I know in my mind that prayer makes a difference. But then I think, well, God is sovereign and He’s going to accomplish His will – it’s going to happen regardless of me and what I say or don’t say! So what does my prayer matter?

At the root of my prayer weakness is a lack of belief in the real power of prayer. I think I would identify that as the main problem, and now hope begin growing in this area by denying the skepticism and choosing to obey and believe.

Regardless of whether I understand of how my petitions affect God’s plans, I just need to OBEY the many commands to pray. (Matt 21:22, 1 Thess 5:17) And do so with the faith to BELIEVE that indeed the “effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much,” (James 5:16) even if I can’t make complete sense of how that works out.

Then, as I choose to be pray-er, I trust I will know and experience the purpose and power and joy of praying.

“Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.” – Corrie ten Boom

 

Seasons

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Seasons

A wise man once stated,”For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” God Himself recorded these words in the Bible, even as he put stars in the sky “for signs and for seasons.”

Fall is a glorious time in NW Oregon. The days are warm, the nights are cool, and the colors of the trees are fantastic. But with the coming of fall also comes the rain. Slowly but surely the weeks fill with more and more rain until we have transitioned to the winter showers that seemingly last for weeks on end.

Seasons of life happen too, when you’re a kid, you cannot wait to be an adult. When you are in highschool, you feel like it is going to last forever. College provides another change of seasons. Dating relationships are just for a season. This or that job is yet another season. We like songs for a season, foods for a season, clothes for a season, and even friends for a season.

I tend to hang on to seasons too long, finding my identity and my comfort not in God, but in the temporary things of whatever season I find myself. Seasons are good and natural, created by God and an important part of our lives, but our lives, and our God, are much bigger than any one season we go through.

Enjoy the season you’re in. Live it to the fullest. Thank God for it. Move on well when the seasons change. Let God be the one in whom you find your identity, comfort and delight, and remember that He will be with you in each new season you enter.

 

The Pulse of Sacrifice

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“Jesus loves me this I know,
for the Bible tells me so, 
little ones to Him belong, 
they are weak but He is strong.”  
 
Last time I wrote for the blog, I had recently taken on the challenge of learning to love by the measure given in 2 Corinthians 13:4-8; little did I know how greatly I would experience being loved firsthand by Jesus Christ. His love truly exceeds anything one could write about His being patient, kind, or selfless. 

He has held and comforted me as I sobbed my eyes out. He’s been patient through my countless questions and complaints of not understanding His Plan. His love gave me hope as I’ve been reminded of His promises –  and there are so many for you and I! Read His word – you’ll find them too! He works ALL things together for His glory! Love is the pulse of sacrifice – and ultimately the reason that He gave His life for you and I.  

Remember that little tune “Jesus Loves Me”? What a great reminder of belonging to God! I’m definitely a weakling, but, my God, no, OUR God is so strong!! 

He longs to be your Savior, Comforter, Restorer, Healer, Father, and so much more. Are you reveling in how much Our God loves you? Look at Arianna’s face in the picture – she is  smiling and giggling because of her parents’ love for her. That is exactly what she should be like with Christ’s love! 

Remember, It’s not just a Sunday School song… It’s the truth. He loves you. Dearly. 

   
   

What’s Stirring You Up?

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“Many people will spend the summer occupied with fishing and politics. In fishing you use a worm, and in politics a worm uses you.”  -unknown

Well, it’s election season here in the US, and emotions seem to be running high, just like every other election year. It is fascinating to observe how politics quite often brings out the worst in many people. The political jokes start flying around, the other party and person that you disagree with gets demonized, and many people can’t stop thinking about how the world will end if the other guy wins the election.

I can’t help but wonder, as I’ve observed the madness of this election season, that many of us Christians really are consumed with the wrong things. Do elections matter? Oh, you had better believe that they do. Does God care who gets elected? Considering the references in Scripture about government, it would be foolish to say that God doesn’t care. Yet my struggle comes down to how obsessed God’s people are with the election process and the final outcome.

So what’s the big deal? Isaiah 64:7 says “There is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You.” Many of us Christians (myself included) get “stirred up” quite easily. Our heart gets pumping, our energy skyrockets, and our mind races when it comes to numerous topics – especially elections. We stir ourselves up with so much, but are we stirring ourselves up to take hold of our King? Most people who know me will agree that I am one who gets passionate about various subjects – and in many ways, that’s not a bad thing. The problem occurs, however, when that passion takes over and we get so consumed with a particular interest that we put off striving to live out the Greatest Commandments: to love our God with our whole hearts and to love our fellow citizens. I can’t help but wonder if God’s people lived like He is real in every way, then how might the political landscape be transformed in ways that it never has before?

 

Unspoken, or Forgotten?

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“So, Tim, why are you doing this?”

I was telling my Mom about some of the ideas I had for the short musical contest that I had signed up for, when she turned around to look at me to ask the question. It was a simple enough question, and yet I found it a little irritating. To me, it implied that she thought something was wrong, that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

“Well, on the one hand, I’m following the advice that another composer gave me: I need to write more often, give myself more deadlines. Also, doing this will give me experience writing a short musical in Chinese, and I’ll be able to get in contact with other people in Taiwan who are interested in musicals, so more people can find out about my work. Why are you asking?”

Mom raised her eyebrows and replied, “I just thought that the main purpose should be to glorify God.”

I flushed, slightly embarrassed that I forgot to mention something so important, but I quickly defended myself, “Oh, of course that’s the main reason! I just took it for granted that you would know it’s the unspoken reason for why I’m writing this musical, so I didn’t even bother mentioning it.”

As I turned back to work on the musical, the question continued to gnaw away at me. Was I really doing it for the glory of God? Or had I become completely focused on writing this musical for my own potential gain and benefit?

Soli Deo Gloria, S.D.G. written by Georg Friedrich Händel

A few hundred years ago, the term “Soli Deo gloria” was written by composers such as Bach and Handel on many of their music compositions. It is the Latin phrase meaning “Glory to God alone.” It was a reminder for themselves – and everyone in the future who would read their manuscripts – that the purpose of their music was to bring glory to God. I’m also discovering the importance of constantly reminding myself that the purpose of my work should be to glorify God.

Practically speaking, what does it look like when a musical is written with the purpose of glorifying God? I’m still learning, but one thing I know: often I am focused on just the final product, when God should be glorified throughout the entire process. That means constantly reminding myself and everyone I’m working with WHY we’re doing what we’re doing.

Most importantly, God should be glorified not only through the musical, but in EVERYTHING that I do.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
I Corinthians 10:31

To 怕怕 or Not To 怕怕

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A few weeks ago, Arianna started saying, “怕怕” (“pa-pa”) first for any number of noises that scared her, and now for any excuse to get me to hold her. Some sounds– like our washer buzzing– can be a little alarming, but other sounds– like the quiet horn on my iPod announcing I had just received an email– are really no big deal.

Since she can’t communicate very well yet, I’ve had to figure out what was real fear and what was imagined, what she should be afraid of and what she shouldn’t. Most of the time, I would say, “Don’t be afraid, that’s just an airplane.” Other times, however, I found myself saying, “Don’t be afraid, Mommy’s right here.”

Watching Arianna go through this stage has made me think through my own fears—fear of losing my family, fear of uncertainty or insecurity, fear of what others might think of me… I’m realizing that if I really believe that God is real (and that He is “right here” with me), then some of my fears are unfounded.

Think about it—if I really believe that God works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), then I can rest in the reality that He has a purpose for everything that happens in my life—good or bad—and that He will give me the grace to go through it (2 Corinthians 12:9).

If I really believe that God provides for those who seek Him (Matthew 6), then my security should be in Him and not in my own ability (or my husband’s) to provide.

If I believe that God is my Creator and my Redeemer and that I owe Him my very life (Romans 5:8), how can the opinion of man matter when the God of the universe cares enough to have a relationship with me?

So when you find yourself feeling afraid or worried, take a minute to assess whether that fear is grounded in a right understanding of who God is.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 ESV) 

The Right Motivation for Doing the Right Thing

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Our vision is to live out God’s reality – “God is real; live like it!” But what does that mean? We believe that God’s reality has implications for the choices we make in every part of life – if God is real, then there is a best way to live and think. But this can be taken three different ways. Many Christians, many Basic Seminar attendees, end up thinking that life is a search for the behaviors that God wants us to carry out, and if we do those behaviors, then we’re living like God is real. I’m realizing that it’s easy for our message to sound that way, and to many students, it probably has. But it’s wrong. I’ll call it the “do the right thing” message.

Matthew 7:22 describes some people on judgment day who did the right things:

“On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name!'”

These were people who did all the behaviors that would make sense if they believed in God’s reality. The next verse records Jesus’ chilling answer to these good people:

“Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

So it turns out that “doing the right thing” isn’t enough. Why does Jesus reject them? He doesn’t know them. They don’t have a relationship with him.

Living like God is real is something entirely different from making lists of appropriate behaviors. Jesus Christ is the kind of God toward whom the most important behavior is to build a relationship with him as a person. And it turns out that that relationship will give us the motivation to do the various behaviors that God’s reality implies. I’ll call this the “have a relationship with Jesus that motivates you to do the right thing” message. I mean, why in the world would a college student care what the Bible says about sex before marriage? There’s a lot of motivation to do it! Why would he or she say ‘no’? Why should a teenager living at home think that God has anything to do with his or her internet usage? That kind of God seems pretty invasive, and is easy to react to. We can make lists of what God wants us to do in different parts of life, but they are worthless unless we have the right reason for following them. If the God of the Bible is real, then the right way to live is in a close personal relationship with him. The right behaviors are really just good manners toward a God that we know in a close personal relationship. I hope that we can emphasize this more in the future at VOICE.

Living like God is real isn’t doing the right thing: it’s having the right motivation for doing the right thing.

Loving His Voice

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© 2012 Elizabeth Anderson

A few days ago I was hiking through the woods with my family.  As we walked, we passed a father and his little son on the trail.  The father was sharing something with his son and the little boy was listening with shining eyes. The boy could not have been older than six or seven, but every part of his being was enthralled by his father’s words.  He was so eager to hear that he walked as closely to his father as he could and kept looking up into his daddy’s face.  As they passed, I realized that the father was saying something important: he was sharing a vision, a dream, that he had for his son.

Even now I do not want to forget the image of that little boy’s shining eyes.  Do I listen to my heavenly Father’s voice with the same excited attention?  Do I walk as closely as I can so as not to miss a word?  Have I caught the vision that He has for my life?  Is every fiber of my being bent on hearing and obeying Him?  Sadly, I am often not like that little boy: I stumble through my devotions, try to walk as closely to the “line” between right and wrong as I can, and push His vision for me to the side, while focusing my energies on the things I enjoy.

Our heavenly Father’s main vision for every Christian is to live like He is real and like His Gospel is powerful.  The Lord will direct each person to accomplish that vision in different ways.  Do you love to hear His voice?  Have you caught the specific vision He has for you?  If you do not know what it is, ask Him!  Then be like that little boy and treasure your Father’s every word.  Let’s humble ourselves as little children, like Jesus told His disciples, and listen to our heavenly Father’s voice as if we can’t get enough.

“Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.” 1 Chronicles 16:11