Let it go

Ever make NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS?

Most of us do / most of us struggle to keep them past a few weeks

Why?

They are often great ideas / but we just got to much going on – too much baggage, too much undealt with stuff.

BAGGAGE!

We tend to drag it around year after year, adding to the pile.

Maybe it's time to clean up and get rid of the junk.

Maybe we need to let something GO so that in 2012 we can GROW!

Grab a pen / pencil and a piece of paper and spend some time reflecting on this year and some of the areas that perhaps it is time to deal with so that you are setting yourself up for success in 2012.

1) What didn’t I give my best to this year?

How often do we hold back, prioritize other things, and instead of giving our best, we tend to give what is left.

2) Revisit your values.

Am I on track?

Does what I am doing line up with my values?

It may not be that we just went bad, but as we reflect maybe we just got a little off-track.

What has crept into my world that I really need to let go?

3) Sort out relationships.

Sometimes Christmas can be pretty stressful, especially if you have some stressful relationships.

This isn't about who was right and who was wrong, this is about relationship.

Maybe you can't even see this person, but you can still forgive them - forgiveness is about releasing you.

Do you have ANYTHING AGAINST ANYONE? Write is down.

4)Deal with unresolved inner conflict.

What is bringing you internal stress?

Maybe it wasn't even your fault, maybe it was - does it matter at the end of the day - maybe today is time to let it go?

What about - God is this what I should be doing?

You can't move forward with uncertainty.

Getting Relationships right

Here is the deal, the stats tell us that currently around 50% of marriages end in divorce. If I was to tell you there is an intersection just up the road where if you drove through you would have a 50% chance of crashing and getting seriously injured ... you just wouldn’t drive there. You would be crazy to get into a car and head towards that intersection ... especially if you just saw the car in front make it through.

Yet this is what we have been doing when we play THE DATING GAME.

There has to be a better way, if God created this thing, then there must be a way to navigate it and still enjoy life – because God is into SEX, He invented it. But we have lost our way and are off the freeway of blessing and into the rugged roads of compromise.

Let’s face it – for most of us the way we play the game doesn’t come from any great revelation but from watching – Parents, family, TV, movies, others. So at the end of the day we have to come to the conclusion we are pretty well just giving it a go based on what we think we know!

I think we need to come back to the Bible and find out what God has to say about relationships and how to navigate the journey rather than just being led by POP culture or opinions of the day – just a thought!

A Motivational Mandate

I came across this devotional in my daily study and it impacted me so much I just had to share it. It is such a worthwhile exercise to continually check our motives and re-align our hearts to the awesome loving Father that we serve.

Psalms 100:2

Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

One of the most freeing yet forgotten truths of the Christian life is this: God only wants us to serve Him because we want to. He doesn’t demand, or even accept when we do things for Him out of a sense of duty, obligation, fear, or guilt. None of those motivations matter with Him. He wants our service, our worship, but only if we serve and worship Him with gladness.

That’s a radical (and perhaps unwelcome) concept for many. A lot of people have sacrificed years of service that were done out of obligation and not out of desire. Untold amounts of money, time, and energy have been rendered in the service of the Lord ... for the wrong reasons.

Their lives have been a succession of bitter offerings that don’t bear any fruit. Over time, they get burnt out and their deeds never glorify God like they should or draw others to Him. Why? Because the joy and gladness is absent. In fact, these people often drive people away from the Lord because they give off the vibe that anything you do with Him is a depressing drudgery. Who would want to follow a God whose servants and followers are so miserable?

God wants us to serve Him because we want to and because we’re glad to. It begs the obvious question: What’s the motivation behind our service? Are we doing it because we want to score points with Heaven, to ease a guilty conscience, or to look better to the people around us? Or do we serve because our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for God’s love and we want to love Him back by serving Him?

What does a real man look like?

Everyone has different ideas on what a 'real man' looks like and we could argue for hours over the different traits, characteristics, and 'must haves'.

At the end of the day I think it is good to consider carefully the following if you desire to be a real man. I think real men posses the following:

• Strong Hands
• Broad Shoulders
• Thick Skin
• Soft Heart
• Clear Eyes

• STRONG HANDS: my Grandad had strong hands, hands that came about from years of hard work and manual labour. There is something I will never forget about feeling those rough but gentle hands. Only get strong through use.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Colossians 3:17

¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

• BROAD SHOULDERS: people are always going to upset you, ROAD RAGE, friends, family. Circumstances and situations come uninvited.

Galatians 6:2, 5, 9

² Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

⁵ for each one should carry their own load.

⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

• THICK SKIN: (offense comes) thin skin is more susceptible to external environments. HARDEN UP! Political correctness panders to a passive generation.

1 John 2:10

¹⁰ Anyone who loves their brother and sister^[b] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

Mark 11:25

²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

• SOFT HEART: (not hard, but STRONG) what can break your heart? David was a soft-hearted warrior who could kill you if you messed with him. A soft heart doesn't mean a week heart. Not cynical or gullible but wise and thoughtful.

Proverbs 4:23

²³ Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

1 Peter 1:22

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.

• CLEAR EYES: if your vision is blurry then your life is unsettled. What about all the distractions? What you see if what you head towards. Be careful guys about what gets your attention. There is always a lure out there.

Psalms 101:3

³ I will not look with approval on anything that is vile.

I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.

Job 31:1

¹ “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-14

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

I can’t even really remember how many times I have taught on this passage out of the Bible over the years, but what amazed me was the most basic point but possibly the most important out of the passage.

There is nothing that exciting really about salt and light except that they are both predominantly and incredible practical. Most of the time I don’t even notice the light and the only time it becomes important is when I want to see and it is getting dark. I very rarely can remember tasting salt and don’t notice that it is in almost all of our meals, but you sure notice if it is missing and it should be there.

So what is the big point?

As a Christian, I should be incredibly practical; I should be involved, connected, engaging my world, making a difference and influencing, but most of the time I may be barely noticed. But I am there because I am salt and light and if I wasn’t there then people would really notice.

You are salt and light, nothing fancy, but the difference you make can and should never be underestimated. If you were not there then people may never see the message of Christ in action, their world would be a lot darker and a lot blander – so I am so grateful that you, like me are called to be salt and light – go on, get out there and shine!

Influence

Influence

It's what's on the inside that counts

Influence is about being a compelling force:

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure (the divine light of the Gospel) in jars of clay (frail human vessels of earth) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

The label doesn't dictate the quality of the product - remember Jesus chose water jugs to present the best wine at the wedding.

God is looking for real people to make a real difference.

Are we busy persuading or influencing?

It's more than the truth you know, it's the truth you do & the life you live.

Passion can wane and zeal can be mocked at but authority has weight and demands an audience. We need to have the inner influence of Christ in our lives. Our message may be rejected but seeds of life are planted and a harvest is demanded.

Engage Somebody

There are over 200 references in the Bible DIRECTLY relating to witnessing and sharing the Gospel – I’m guessing that means this must be pretty important to God.

Mark 16:15

15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

For most of us our journey to become a Christian was, although unique to who we are, similar in that it usually came down to a somebody we met or who impacted OUR WORLD.

For some it was a MOMENT, for others it was a long JOURNEY, but for nearly all of us there was a SOMEBODY?

Somebody Engaged you & you became a Christ Follower... now you are to be the Somebody for someone else. Make the choice to Engage. You don't need a degree, you don't need to wait for some mystical moment, you just GO into YOUR world and be available, then when God sets up the opportunity step up and see what happens. Sometimes our greatest witness is not what we say but rather than we are there to listen.

Bill Hybels –

Life’s great moments evolve from simple acts of cooperation with God’s mysterious promptings – nudges that always lean toward finding what has been lost & freeing what has been enslaved.