Man’s plans and God’s move

I recently was riding in the car with Pastor Mike and we were discussing planning and preparing for church services.  He made a wonderful comment that I think is the essential balance between our planning and God’s move.  He said, “I always plan, but I’m always prepared to abandon my plan.”

There is this fight in some church circles that contains comments like, “don’t plan the Holy Spirit out”, or “God can speak to you 2 weeks ahead not just in the moment”.  It gets really ugly and divisive sometimes.  I have seen God move so powerfully in the moment and I’ve seen him use things we’ve planned months in advance as well.  I think that Pastor Mike’s statement is the  balance.  We need to do our best to plan with the information we have at hand and the resources we have stewardship over.  We then, in the moment, need to be prepared to deviate from that plan if, IF, IF God leads.  We don’t need to plan to deviate.  Remember our plan isn’t the end goal.  The results are God’s business!  A couple of passages come to mind:

Proverbs 16:9 ~ “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps”.

Colossians 3:17 ~ “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

There is a great peace in knowing that God is sovereign.  He is in control.  This whole deal does not depend on me and you.  Someone once told me that God is after your “want to”.  He doesn’t need us.  He just wants to use us and He wants us to want to be used.  It’s a relationship.

We’ve planned really hard for months for our annual Christmas Program.  We had to cancel it yesterday because of snow.  Major bummer.  You know all the planning in the world just couldn’t account for or control the weather.  But my eyes and hope are upon the one who does control the weather.  When I take His perspective I don’t see months of planning messed up.  I see a team that has worked together and grown, one that has had fellowship and enjoyed the process.  Simply we have grown, performance or no performance.  It’s about the relationships we have built.  We’ll do it later and it’ll still be great.  We planned, we had to deviate, and it’s all God’s business ~ we just declare it’s all for Him!

God made in man’s image

I was reminded today in a conversation of a message I shared at our Sunday evening service a while back.  Christians do have a tendency to take our desires, experiences, and assumptions sometimes and form our image of God from them.  We must remember that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ NOT God conformed to our image.  Below is a link to the notes from that message.

http://ethosblog.com/2008/01/21/god-made-in-mans-image/

God and People

It’s been a long, but amazing day.  We had around 90 guys show up for our first monthly men’s breakfast.  That was followed by about 6 hours of rehearsal for the Christmas Worship Service that’s happening on the 20th.  I’ve been around amazing people all day.  I even came home from all of that to my four favorite people in all of the world.  It’s been an awesome day.  People.

It’ also been amazing today because of the presence of God.  His mercy that allowed me to see today, to enjoy those people, to be able to be a partaker in the divine nature, and just know and be known by Him.  As it says in Romans 12, it is because of God’s mercy that we offer our whole lives as an act of worship to God.

You know, for those of us who choose to follow Christ, there’s a two part deal that is paramount for us and non-negotiable,  ”Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and . . . Love your neighbor as yourself”.  It’s about loving God with all of our existence and loving people with the love that He has loved us with.   We should be moved to live lives of sacrifice and devotion to God because of Christ.  It is our only reasonable response.  We should love our neighbors because he has first loved us.  What a glorious thing the Lord offers us!

Sadly, we are people who don’t always get it right.  We have conflict.  We mess up.  We assume that our agendas are God’s sometimes.  If we will fall desperately in love with God and in turn desperately love people with that love God has poured out to us, we will be a bride that much more resembles His heart and a community of Christian faith, while yet diverse in our expressions, that is authentic and biblical.  Let’s remember to pray for those who we struggle with, press into Jesus with a passion, and walk this journey together based on the principles laid out in scripture.

The State of Christian Music

Here’s a great post from Matthew Lilley on the current state of Christian music.  Good Stuff.  Be sure and take time to read this article and remember your journey into the Christian music world.

http://worshiplikejesus.blogspot.com/2009/12/contemporary-christian-music-history.html

Christmas Displays

Here we are again.  It’s that time of year where the decorations come out.  It seems to get earlier every year.  Lisa and I actually decorated the week before Thanksgiving this year because we would be out of town at relatives over the weekend.  It’s also that time when the “War on Christmas” stuff hits the news again.  Town halls pulling down nativity scenes.  Schools outlawing the use of the word Christmas.  And the religious community, some of it at least, goes nuts over it.

There is a war on Christmas.  However, I want to submit that it is one that is internal in the believer.  It is not one in city hall or the school board meeting room.  I think one of the biggest problems in the church is that we don’t make a display of Christmas in our personal lives year round.  We fight with people about putting up our decorations and we feel holy because of it, but then we’ll go out to eat and be rude to the waitress, ignore the hungry people next door, and harbor unforgiveness towards family and neighbors.

We need to fight the real fight.  We need to recognize that this is a spiritual fight against darkness.  It is a fight against sin that “so easily besets” us.  It’s a fight against the desires of our sinful nature that lead us to live lives that don’t look like Jesus.

Let’s start making a real display of Christmas.  Year round in the way that we live our lives.  Let’s decorate this tree, it’s Biblical, “clothe yourselves with Christ”.  That’s the kind of Christmas display that really makes a difference.  If we want to celebrate what the birth of Christ is about.  Then let’s live out and carry out the mission that he gave us.  Love God and Love People.

I Prefer Coke

We prefer a lot of different things.  I am a Coca~Cola man myself.  Pepsi won’t do.  I prefer Coke.  Why?  I could probably name a lot of reasons for it, but I simply just like it better.  But you know, preferring (at least if we’re going to apply scripture here) has more to do with a choice to put something first.

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;” Romans 12:9,10 NKJV

When it comes to people, we are to prefer them.  Prefer them over what?  We need to prefer them over our own selfish interests.  Put them first.  It’s hard when you don’t like somebody.  I tell you the truth though, the Gospel moves more quickly and effectively when our love towards others is “without hypocrisy”, when we do “good” things, “be kindly affectionate”, and honor others by “giving preference”.

Preferring it doesn’t mean you like it.  It means a choice to put others first even when you don’t want to.  You’ll find that this thing will often (not always) work both ways.  But that’s not why we do it.  We do it because God tells us to and because we want others to receive the Gospel.

Complaining

Here are three links to some posts by Pastor Steven Furtick about how to deal with that complaining mess and perspective problem we all struggle with.  READ THEM!

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/convert-your-complaint/

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/the-100-year-grid/

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/the-grace-perspective/

Do What’s Right

I often think about Paul who said I do the things I shouldn’t and I don’t do the things I know I should. I find that “clothing” myself with Christ is a daily process that involves worship, right fellowship, washing by the water of the Word, repentance, and a ton of grace. Today is the day of salvation so today I choose to put off the old man and choose to be the new creation I am.

Remember, this is a journey and a process. Embrace it, passionately pursue Christ, and be not conformed to the pattern of this world.

Repentance, Hunger, Expectation

I was having a conversation with someone this morning and we were discussing our desire for God’s move and presence among our church, the Body as a whole, and the nations.  As we were sharing I was reminded of some of the things we see or often come before God’s move.

Repentance.  Part of us beginning to walk in the freedom we were designed for is for us to pray and turn from our wicked ways as the scripture says.  When we are hung up on ourselves, harboring sin, and living in self reliance, it becomes a hinderance to our being a part of the move of God or sensing His presence.

Hunger. Simply, we must desire it.  As humans, we are so easily caught up in fleeting and short lived satisfactions.  We give in to the desires of our flesh and shelve the hunger of  our souls.  There is so much in scripture related to us choosing the things of God – wanting them.  ”Set your mind on things above”, “Clothe yourself with Christ”, “Believe”, “Where your treasure is there is your heart”.  If we want to encounter God in deep and fresh ways we must want it.

Expectation.  Do you believe?  Do you believe God can? Do you believe He will?  Faith.  Without it we will only see with our natural eyes.  When we live with the expectation that God is present and moving, we will begin to encounter and see His move much more often.  It is an issue of concrete perspective.  It starts with choosing to declare that God is who He says He is and continues in declaring that He will do what He says He will do.  The more we choose to see things from God’s perspective the more we will see things that way.

What would happen if today in your quiet time, or at your Bible study, or this week at church, or just plain out in public somewhere – if you would repent of your own sin and lack of belief, hunger and desire for God’s presence more than anything else, and actually believe that He will meet you there?  Try it.

Intentional

So often we live as if to expect that the move of God, the voice of God, the power of God in our lives will just happen to us.  We get frustrated saying, “God is silent.” or “God is absent.” or “God doesn’t seen to care.”  But the issue, almost always, is us.

We must be intentional about our relationship with God.  It’s about choices.  It’s about the right priorities.  If we choose to make time for scripture, prayer, and worship.  We are in position to hear God, feel His presence, and be refreshed to walk in His power.

How can you create some space in your life this week to be intentional with God?  What items need to go down the totem pole so God can be at the top?