Suffering for the Gospel


Psalm 69:7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mothers children;9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.


While the price for our redemption has been paid in full by Jesus, there is still an undeniable price we must pay as his followers. The price we pay must not be confused with redemption, for believing that would discount the ultimate price that only Jesus could and did pay.  Paul clearly stated in 2 Timothy 3 "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution."  Some would point out that Paul said in this discourse, "out of them all the Lord delivered me".  Thankfully, that is true, yet we must understand that it was "out of them" and not "from them" that the deliverance came.  To teach followers of Jesus that if their faith is strong enough they will avoid suffering is heresy.  The worst of it is that teaching such does not train the troops for war of which we are all a part.  The picture of the church is not a picture of a party but of a joy filled victorious army.  Persecution, suffering and rejection are all Biblical realities.  We don't seek them for that would be ghoulish. Yet, we prepare for their potential and brace ourselves for their possibility.  In David's words there is great insight into the direction from which these attacks might come. He said, "the reproaches or those who reproach you have fallen on me".  Early in the ministry as a pastor I found myself under ongoing attack by some of those that I was trying to serve.  I cried out to God, "why are they attacking me?  I'm the guy trying to love and help them?"  The answer came back loud and clear from the Lord.  "They can't attack me so they attack the one who represents me and the one who brings my truth to them." That day I learned an important lesson, DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY! Easier said than done, right?  Yes, but it is true.  Hurting people hurt the closest one to them and that is usually the one trying to bring Truth to darkness, deception and/or rebellion.


Today if persecution or rejection comes your way and if it is really because of the Gospel, dismiss the notion that it's about you and rejoice!
Acts 5:41 (NKJV)

So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Contemplation + consultation+ organization + application = realization.


In my last blog I concluded with the formula above.  I was asked by one reader to elaborate.  The following are my thoughts: 
1. Contemplation-I believe one of the most neglected parts of success is contemplation.  Contemplation involves having time or making time to think and dream.  You can spend a lifetime only dealing with the task at hand and never become a builder of vision.  Vision comes out of prayer and contemplation. Believe it or not you actually need to put contemplation time on your calendar each week.  Don't feel guilty about it.


2. Consultation- It is a powerful thing to spend time with someone you respect who has more experience than you in your field.  It is during these times that you should find a time to "think out loud" regarding your dreams and visions that contemplation has produced.  Consultation should feed your vision and expand it.  Often the legs will come to your contemplation during consultation.  Consultation may also adjust your vision. Remember, Proverbs 20:18 tells us "plans are established by counsel..."


3.  Organization-Once the vision is clarified it can now be organized.  Think about it, we contemplate or think it through, we get counsel from a trusted mentor and we get it on the calendar.  We will never accomplish what we do not plan.  


4. Application- It's time to get to work!  Too often we start trying to make things happen without  the three steps above.  Once you have done the ground work application is much easier.  


5. Realization- This is a wonderful thing.  I'm convinced that God wants us to build far more than we do.  Too much wasted effort is spent in the Kingdom of God.  God was and is very deliberate.  Think it through, get input, put it in order and act.  


I hope this helps.  

Suddenly!


It seems that God is the only one who can do things quickly and do them well.  Actually, He doesn't do things quickly either. Even the famous "suddenly" of Acts 2 was only suddenly to those watching.  God had been working and preparing for that day for generations.  God moves slowly and meticulously.  Every aspect is considered and every detail taken into account.  He's not on the clock!  Our rush to "get 'r done" is probably because we have an expiration date. (Earthly that is!) We would do much better if we learned from the Lord and got into His rhythm of doing things.  The old proverb, "haste makes waste" is one that continues to move around in my head.  Probably because it's neglect has cost me so much through the years.  I was thinking recently, "not many wrecks happen when you are driving slowly"!


Let me give you a formula that has come from many years of mistakes made by rushing.  Contemplation + consultation+ organization + application = realization.
It works!  Give it a try today and in the days ahead!  

Smiling Through The Pain!


Phil 4:4
 "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"  We all know this verse by heart and may even have it on the fridge.  It has been a word of great encouragement to me through the years as well as painful at times.  The reason for the pain is my understanding that Paul wrote this from a jail cell.  He wrote this smiling through pain.  He wasn't into "mind over matter", it was just that he possessed something on the inside that was more powerful that what was going on outside. That's where I want to live!  Too often we take a "flesh wound" in Kingdom combat and treat it like it is our ticket home!  We have to get over this kind of thinking and living.  Once I spent a couple of hours counseling and praying with a person that attacked me personally in the middle of the session.  It would be like a patient waking up in the middle of surgery, grabbing a scalpel and stabbing the surgeon in the leg.  I felt hurt, rejected and betrayed! I wanted to say, "get out of my office!" Yet, they were hurting and hurting people may hurt others.  I closed out the session as best I could and limped out of my office glad it was over.  As I headed to the rest room I looked down the hall and there was another hurting person waiting to see me.  I heard the Lord say, "splash some cool water on your face and get ready to help them.  They need your best!"  Wow!  Every person we meet needs our best and not the residue of a wounded healer.  If we aren't aggressive about staying clean and pure in heart, we will gradually begin to minister out of that hurt.  Paul had learned something important.  As ministers we will be bitter or better.  Paul chose better!  We must choose better.  Don't let the enemy cause a flesh wound to disable you.  In the words of a great coach, "Shake it off!"