Allow Your Conscience to Accuse or Excuse - Part 3

The Apostle Paul consistently encourages us to assess what we’re striving to acquire, and at what price? C. S. Lewis noted, “We’re all given to seeking after material possessions and even conversion does not at once work the infection out of our system.” What gave the Apostle Paul the will to press on toward the mark of his high calling in Jesus Christ?

The Apostle Paul’s usage of the words “press on” implies being consistently vigilant to accomplish God’s purpose with no consideration of giving up. The conscience, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, helps us choose what is good, righteous and godly and then stay focused.

Ignoring the conscience disrupts fellowship with oneself, significant others, and God the Father. The voice of conscience, permeated by the Holy Spirit, speaks to alert us when there is danger of going against the conscience’s directives. Christ Jesus instills in us his righteousness to strengthen our conscience to ensure that fellowship between us and God the Father continues. Isn’t that a wonderful thought? 

Saul: Losing Self-Respect and a Kingdom - Part 3

What happens when a person loses God’s favor by willful acts of disobedience? Romans 1 warns that God gave up those who refused to repent and turn from sin. 1 Samuel 28 illustrates what happened to Saul, the first king of Israel, when he lost God’s power and protection because he deliberately refused to follow God’s guidelines for living.

Saul went to the Witch of Endor for help which was prohibited by God. 1 Samuel 28 describes the terror and fear Saul felt without God’s help. Can you imagine what it would be like to experience God’s total withdrawal from your life?

What Saul gained from the Witch of Endor was knowledge that he and his sons would die in battle the next day. He and his army experienced devastation and defeat because of Saul’s rebellious attitude, but it didn’t have to end that way. God’s offers the narrow way that leads to life, his favor and blessings. It’s a choice God, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit long for you to make.

Values: Boundary Markers for Living - Part 1

Ernest Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature yet found it difficult at times to write a significant beginning sentence that portrayed a truth. While Hemingway is considered to have been a true American literary genius, his value system brought him intense pain and suffering which resulted in his eventual suicide.

Hemingway continuously sought to prove himself through his famous African safaris, his drinking ability, sportsmanship, and exploits with women, but discovered that permanent peace did not exist for him. A Quaker proverb addresses caring for and loving yourself. "It is true that each person has integrity that can be damaged and diminished by choices that person makes."

Your integrity is intricately connected to your value system, so your values either strengthen or weaken your integrity. Jesus posited a blueprint for guarding your integrity. "Love the Lord God with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself." "Do to others as you would have them do to you" is a choice God will bless while strengthening your integrity.

Milestones: Turn Obstructions into Opportunities - Part 1

If you read the Gospels thoroughly you soon would discover how prevalent obstructions were in the life of Jesus. Even before Jesus was born Joseph, who was engaged to Mary, was ready to abandon her when he realized she was pregnant. However, God told Joseph by way of a dream that Mary’s pregnancy was acceptable because it was an immaculate conception.

While Jesus was fasting in a desert wilderness, Satan began actively laying out obstructions comprised of promises to give him an easy way to fame and fortune. Jesus countered Satan’s obstructions with God's Word, which in effect neutralized Satan’s power to control him. We, like Jesus, can turn obstructions into opportunities to grow, to become stronger and please God with our choices to serve him and him alone.

These scriptures demonstrate that Jesus was prepared to encounter temptations and obstructions regardless of their source. You can show the world you’re a Christian and far from powerless when faced with obstructions of any magnitude that Satan may place before you. 

Defeat Fear of Failure: Choose Faith - Part 3

Most children grow up planning to achieve their dreams. Young children tend to have big dreams because fear of reaching to the very edge of their capabilities has not become a reality. A young man's parents told him he was not intelligent enough to be a physician like his grandfather, who had assured him he could do it with commitment and hard work.

This young man graduated from Princeton University and medical school, and now serves as a physician with a large practice. He had to overcome self-doubts and fears as well as negative voices that were determined to diminish his enthusiasm. However, greater were the encouragement of his grandfather and the voice of God's love and purpose.

Deliberately choosing to be less than you're capable of being because of fear invites unhappiness. Self-doubt and fear are temptations. The Apostle Paul assures you that God will provide an escape from temptation's power so you can rise up against it. Believing God’s promises and acting upon them is God’s provision for defeating fear’s power. 

Critical Choices & Long-range Consequences - Part 3

Life is like time, always in transition and always moving forward rather than standing still. Yet there are circumstances that seem to contradict this reality. I read an article about a mother and father whose adult son was murdered a decade earlier. This loss was so devastating that healing had not taken place, even after a decade of grief.

Most of us may never experience such desolation, yet we will face our own crossroads experiences. Lack of vengeance does not imply forgiveness has taken place, but it gives credence to the fact that forgiveness is difficult to achieve. All of us need to be forgiven by those we've hurt just as we need to forgive those who have offended us.

Vengeance can be acted out passively by withdrawing from the offending person and internalizing the pain. God's word has two specific reminders for us. "'Vengeance is mine, I will repay,' says the Lord," and "Be angry, but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger." Crossroads choices can bring about healing for you and others. 

Crisis and Reality - Part 3

Reality is an interesting word, given that individuals often perceive a situation or experience differently. The ability to manage reality in healthy ways  depends on the experiences, emotional stability, and character of each person. When loved ones go into the world to discover their reality, these choices can be painful and scary.

The father Jesus referred to in Luke 15 realized his son would embark on a  journey that was subject to failure, danger, or even death. Reality for the young man included a great adventure, success, and fun. The father's reality was the  potential loss of his son in addition to a substantial loss of wealth.

The father's wisdom allowed him to release rather than restrain his son. The father's faith in his son's ability to deal constructively with pig pen reality had to be a contributing factor in letting him go. Is this comparable to the faith and trust Christ Jesus has in us to make constructive choices when we face the reality of a crisis? It's something to consider.

Crisis and Compromise: Choosing God's Way - Part 2

If you could choose to live your life over what would you change? Could you say, "Given the entirety of my life, I would want it to be the same"? Such a  person lives life with a healthy sense of integrity. This person has experienced the reality of God's word "that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes."

In fact, God desires for you to live a life of adventure and challenge while refusing to damage your integrity by deliberate, sinful choices. Do you realize that God gives you the right to determine your destiny? You can choose your own path, regardless of the cost to your integrity, or chose to follow God's plan and purposes as he reveals them to you.

There are internal, social, and spiritual imperatives for sustaining a healthy integrity. We can choose to live by specific values that identify us as the person God created and loves. We can choose to live by God's command to respect and love others as we love ourselves. Healthy integrity depends on putting God first in your life. These are choices God will bless.  

Accomplishment: A Fresh Look - Part 1

Most everyone begins adulthood with dreams of the perfect job, the perfect spouse, and perfect children. Dreams of success provide motivation for going out into the world to accomplish great things. God designed us to be ambitious, to reach out beyond perceived limitations and obstacles to achieve what others believe to be impossible for us.

A  successful, caring physician was discouraged by his parents from applying to medical school. When he persisted in pursuing his ambition, both parents withheld their financial and emotional support. Thankfully his grandfather, a physician, encouraged him to follow his dream. The young man's determination and faith helped him meet and overcome the obstacles he encountered.

It's interesting how surprised we can be when we're confronted by obstacles on our way to success. Obstacles test our faith, give rise to doubt, and test our obedience to God's calling. Luke 10:3 portrays Jesus sending his disciples out to meet these obstacles. With prayer and determination, obstacles can be overcome. Give thanks to God for giving you determination to overcome obstacles.

Re-creating Job Satisfaction - Part 3

Two objectives for working are to attain satisfaction and a earn a livelihood. The degree of satisfaction you experience is linked to your attitude toward work. A positive attitude will enhance your chances for satisfaction in other areas of your life. The happier you are with work, the higher your chances for finding meaning and purpose for your time here on earth.

What are you trying to extract from your work? Is it just a means to an end, a way to get the necessities of life and other things you want? Is work a channel for retirement and security for old age? I'm reminded of Jesus' parable about the farmer who reaped such an abundant harvest that he had to build new barns to store the overflow.

His attitude was to eat, drink, and be happy, but he failed to consider God's plan for his future. The point Jesus made is that your attitude toward work may not produce the rewards you expect. However deciding that your work is God gift to you can be the attitude you take to work and pass on to others. What could be more pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Re-creating Job Satisfaction - Part 2

The attitudes you developed toward work as an adolescent most often endure for a lifetime. Some adolescents want to avoid work while others seek out employment. Those who to have a positive attitude toward work as teenagers tend to make better adjustments to the changes life requires during the decades of the forties and fifties.

For some adults, mid-life necessitates redefining specific goals for working. More than a few men and women reach mid-life and conclude they have been chasing the wind, as Solomon pointed out in Ecclesiastes 4:6. The attitude you possess toward work determines in part whether you come to judge your life's toil as meaningful or meaningless.

Without Christ Jesus giving direction to your life, what you achieve can be seen as pointless and ultimately worthless. Change must include an evaluation of your attitude toward work, the objectives you've achieved and whether you believe work is God's gift to you. God is at work in your life to show you his way and what you can be for him and others.  

Securing Contentment Through Generosity - Part 3

Most individuals are innately a bit self-centered. While it's normal to take care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually, most people retain a healthy concern for others. God generously gives us a measure of love and wisdom, which become the hallmark for making life joyful and peaceful. The way in which these attributes get expressed depends on our individual choices.

In the parable of the sower, seeds fall on four different types of soil. These soils represent a person's availability to receive the message from God's word. How much joy and peace we experience depends on the depth God's word is allowed to penetrate our heart and soul. Seeds fail to produce when the soil is shallow or when it's polluted and stifles the plants.

The seeds God sows in you are meant to produce love for others and wisdom for living. This takes place when we become vulnerable to God's purpose and plan for our days upon the earth. Let love and wisdom be the soil that covers your skills and abilities so these will generate the bountiful harvest to which Jesus refers in his parable.  

Developing a Positive Identity - Part 1

On one occasion Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people say I am?" The people misunderstood who Jesus was, but Peter said, "You are the Christ." As early as age twelve, Jesus understood his life's purpose. He told his mother, "I must be about my father's business." Some people inadvertently develop a negative rather than a positive identity.

The developmental task of adolescence is to begin cultivating a productive sense of who you are and what you can be. A positive self- perception evolves over time, but seeds are planted early on. It's crucial that a positive sense of identity be developed, for those who have a negative sense of self rarely acquire the peace and joy God intended.

Making constructive choices by laying a foundation that affects your identity begins by realizing you are God's creation and loved by him. Romans 8:17 proclaims you were created to be a co-heir with Jesus. As you visualize, internalize, and accept this promise, you're in a position to make choices that will be blessed by God.  

From Industry to Identity - Part 2

Children begin early fantasizing about what they would like to be when they grow up. Can you remember daydreaming and planning your future? As a young adolescent, I imagined myself being the pilot of a supersonic jet fighter. I did serve in the Air Force, but not as a pilot. However I eventually discovered what I could do with my life.

Finding meaning and purpose for life hinges on identity - how I see myself. The main developmental task of adolescence is to lay the groundwork for identity, the person I want to become, as the world of childhood is slowly left behind. For the Christian teenager, it's important to believe God is providing direction and purpose for life.

A crucial awareness, whatever your age, acknowledges that identity is determined by God and your own decisions. Listen to Genesis 1:26. "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness." Acknowledging you are made in God's image provides a solid basis for self-worth and personal destiny. This determines what you choose to do with your life.  

Choice and Destiny - Part 2

An ancient wise man said, “Choice, not chance, determines destiny.” Our choices determine success or failure, happiness or discouragement. Romans 6:23 validates how our destiny can be altered: “For sin pays its wage which is death; but God’s free gift, to all who believe, is eternal life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus promised in John 14:26 to help us with our decision-making so there could be positive change.  “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said.” This may be difficult to believe for those who feel stuck or who feel abandoned, but it's true.

Rearranging and altering an old destiny is possible. While it may seem impossible at first, determine to explore what God puts in your heart to do. The guidance of the Holy Spirit, our Counselor sent to instruct us when faced with difficult choices, is always present. Determine to listen to this voice, for all things are possible with God.

Choice and Destiny - Part 1

Everyone has longed to go back to a specific time in their personal history for an opportunity to make better choices. While crucial life decisions are consistently placed before us, risky choices need careful evaluations. Some individuals consistently make decisions that result in negative consequences for themselves and others.       

What can we do to make sure our choices produce constructive change? First, avoid impulsive decisions.  Making impulsive decisions can result in unwanted consequences. To avoid this outcome, be sure to give significant decisions a “fair chance” to be evaluated. Discussing an issue with those who will give honest feedback is a necessity.

Proverbs 20:18 offers us these words of instruction: “Get good advice and you will succeed; don’t go charging into battle without a plan.” Good advice is like a lamp to guide your path. Good teaching is a light to direct your thoughts. Talk to God about what’s in your heart, for he gives confidence to those who desire to please him.