Practicing God's Peace (Part E)

Peace is also very powerful because of the effects it has on our thinking.  Psychologists say that one of the most important elements about a person is their self-talk.  In other words, what kinds of things they say to themselves about themselves.  Sounds kind of funny at first until we consider that we talk to ourselves far more than we talk to others in the course of a day.  Often, these thoughts are destructive, negative, and cynical which produces corresponding tendencies in our actions, attitudes, and behavior.  Talk about a lose lose situation.  In my case, it was anxiety. I was paralyzed by anxiety growing up. It controlled my outlook on life, my interaction with others, my sense of future events, and internal dialogues.

God's peace breaks this cycle.  The very next verse after our verse for the week, quickly extending longer than a week :) is Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."  Peace paves the way for positive and productive thinking. The "E" for today stands for Engage in peaceful thinking.  We talked about "P" standing for practicing His presence, a spiritual aspect of peace.  Now "E" represents the power of peace extended to our minds, an intellectual aspect of peace.  

  Without peace in our emotional condition positive thinking is impossible! All the self-help books in the world and positive confession sessions without God's peace are an exercise in futility. It's like the little character in Kung-Fu Panda chanting, "inner peace...inner peace" in an attempt to bring equilibrium to his heart.   The only problem with this so called "inner-peace" is that it can't be manufactured externally, nor can it be channeled internally. Chanting distracts us, but never dispels the inner tension.  Inner-peace is a free gift from God that bypasses humanism and eastern mysticism entirely, being released to us vertically through His Spirit.  By that I mean, that God establishes His rule and reign  in our hearts through His Son to the extent that we surrender to Him.  As we surrender He intensifies the peace-filling presence of His Spirit.

Striving in human effort will never attain the mental/emotional peace necessary that Jesus releases in one moment of genuine surrender through His Spirit. As we learn to walk in peace it becomes much easier to choose peaceful thoughts according to Philippians 4:8.

Yes, we can have peace in our hearts and minds and emotions. What great news in a day and age when people are turning to all kinds of peace substitutes to manufacture something that our hearts know isn't really genuine.

He concludes the verse by saying, "And the God of peace will be with you."  So now we have come full circle.  The peace of God enables us to walk with the God of Peace.  This in turn produces more peace in our lives.  I call this the peace quotient.  I'm convinced that peace isn't a static variable in our lives.  I believe peace is multi-faceted and multi-layered allowing people to grow in their experience of peace.   In other words, I can honestly say that I walk in far more peace now at 33 than I did 10 years ago.  Why?  I've learned to implement this cycle in my life.

1) Prayer with gratitude and specific petition
2) Receiving the peace of God
3) Practicing His presence
4) Choosing productive thinking
5) Increasing experience in walking with the God of peace
6) A fresh encounter with God's peace
7) Repeat steps 1-6 above.

Can I mention one quick aspect of Engaging in productive thinking?  It takes work.  I don't mean empty human striving; I'm referring to active participation and cooperation with God's peace. Our minds have been trained to think a certain way.  It's time to reprogram them.  It's time to fill them with new thoughts.  Peaceful thoughts.  Where do we get this "mental peace app" that helps reprogram our thinking?  The Word.  I know I sound like a broken-record, but I've learned that you really can't have too much of the Word of God in your life.

For me, I had to start memorizing verses that contained specific promises to my situation.  When the negative thinking tried to return I would bust out the verse.  "Actually, Stephen... That's not a healthy thought. Here is the proper perspective..." Then, came the verse.  Followed, by the decision to believe the verse and ask Jesus to reframe my thinking.  It took time, but it always produced peace.

Engage in peaceful thinking today by experiencing God's peace found in His Presence. 

Practicing God's Peace part P

The first idea that connects the peace of God for me is Presence.  Having lived in so many nations in my life—as of this writing it is 7, people often ask me: Where is home?  Or where is your favorite place to be?

My standard answer used to be very simple—Kenya.  It’s where I grew up and its where I felt most comfortable.  That soon changed though.  Tanzania is also an amazing country that I dearly love as is Madagascar, and even the United States.  Anyone who has spent any time in Colorado would have to concur—it’s beautiful!

When pushed into a corner to only choose one place I often feel stumped.  It is Kenya?  Well…maybe.  Is it Tanzania?  Umm…probably.   What about Madagascar?  Yes…so beautiful.  

Then one day it hit me.  My favorite place to be in the world is in His Presence!  Psalms 16 says it this way, “In your presence there is fullness of joy and at your right hand treasures for evermore.”  I have learned that His presence is the key to joy, not a geographical location or a situational context.   In fact, there are moments when I’ve been on the beaches of Tanzania, or the rainforests of Madagascar, or the plains of East Africa and still felt intense loneliness, anxiety, and fear despite the overwhelming beauty around me. 

Enter the peace of God. I believe it is absolutely essential to maintaining an awareness of the presence of God.  The two go hand in hand.  No peace no presence.  Peace equals presence.  I know there are other factors to consider in this discussion, but I’m speaking very simply for the sake of brevity.   The peace of God keeps our hearts and minds from wandering in the path of dangerous and toxic emotions that would pull us far from His presence.  

Before going any further let’s make this practical.  How do we cooperate with His peace?  Here’s just a few ideas.

1)    Learn the art of being still—too much stress, pressure, worry, etc… will fill your heart with all sorts of unhealthy emotions.  Life is busy.  Let’s be honest. It’s full of stress and pressure.  I’ve found that I must have a quiet time everyday, not so much to accomplish some kind of check-off on my spiritual to do list, but rather because I need to still my soul and know that God is bigger than what is going on in my world. 

2)    Let the Word wash over you—there is a big difference between reading the Word and allowing the Word to wash over you heart.  One is a verbal/mental exercise. The other is a spiritual emotional experience.  I don’t want to sound too mystical here for I am also a very intellectual person who likes to interact with the Word on a more rationale level.  Having said that, there is something so powerful about the Word of God. When my heart is still and I’m able to read the Word I feel like the Holy Spirit gets out a cloth and begins to gently wipe my heart.  The unhealthy emotions, the worry, the stress, soon fade as I hear what He wants to talk to me about.  I believe this is why Jesus compared the Word to being washed. 

3)    Sing—I know it sounds pretty childish. After all this is the 21^st century and who really sings anymore?  I believe the main reason we don’t sing anymore outside of a Sunday morning worship context is because our hearts are so full of heaviness and stress from the world around us. In my English Lit classes in university we had to read several of G.K. Chesterton’s works. In one of them he talks about the loss of the song in modernity.  How only kids sing anymore and interestingly, they seem to be the only ones happy.  I have found that if I can get a good worship song in my mind and then began to sing and hum it out loud I soon find peace covering me. 

4)    Pray- The context for Philippians 4:7 is prayer, and not just any prayer, but specific prayer laced with gratitude.  It’s amazing that Paul instructs us to present your requests to God with thanksgiving.  For me, this looks like bringing very precise and specific needs in my life that often weigh me down with heaviness to the Lord.  I tell Him the need and then I thank Him that he has heard my request according to I John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”  I then leave the request for Him to carry and deal with. In other words, I don’t pick it back up.  This is the essential for restoring peace to practice his presence.  

Practicing God’s Peace

One of the most important factors in a person’s life is peace.  The lack of it or the presence of it determines everything. The longer I live the more I’m convinced of the importance of learning to practice God’s peace. I consider God’s peace absolutely essential to living an overcoming lifestyle. 

I once thought very differently.  Peace wouldn’t have figured so prominently in my assessment of a victorious believer.  Truth be told, it probably wouldn’t have even made the top ten.  I would have mentioned things like spiritual power, authenticity, conviction, and passion.  While I still highly value all of these qualities, one stands out above the others—peace. 

I know what it is to operate in a measure of spiritual power, to live with authenticity, to speak with conviction, and to be passionate, and yet be lacking in this one vital area.  What caused the shift in me?  One primary reason:  Peace is foundational to our capacity for experiencing God’s Presence daily.  So often I have been moved in a conference, touched by a sermon, and encouraged at church only to walk out of the doors back into my world of chaos, perplexity, and confusion.  Poof! No matter how great the spiritual high, it almost evaporated in the pressure of real life. 

This is tragic.  God’s work via the Spirit and the Word in our hearts must never be squandered.  It needs to be cultivated, nurtured, and cherished.  Yet, the onslaught of the world around us is so intense.   How can we cooperate with God, instead of counteracting what He is doing in our lives?   

I believe the answer is found in one simple verse in Philippians 4:7.  This verse has become a source of life to my soul over the past 7 years.  “And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.  

So simple, yet so complex.  A peace so powerful that it protects our emotions and guards our thoughts.  This week I want to look at the importance of peace in the life of a believer.  

The Dream From Africa: Nook & Kindle

The Dream from Africa is now live on Amazon at http://amzn.com/B00EO8KQPS.  It is also available on the Nook via Barnesandnoble.com.  Search for"The Dream From Africa" or the book number 2940148578918.  Please help get the word out! 

 Also, make sure to check out the website: stephen.kuert.net

The Dream From Africa site

The Dream From Africa now has it's own website at http://stephen.kuert.net  where you can read the first four chapters and find out more about the Kitengela project.

The book is live on Amazon today at http://www.amazon.com/The-Dream-From-Africa-ebook/dp/B00EO8KQPS.

 Thank you in advance for considering a download to benefit the future of Kenya as well as making other people aware of the book and the Kitengela project.  Together we make the dreams of many young people a reality.  

The Dream From Africa--A read that makes a difference

The purpose of The Dream From Africa   is three-fold. 

First, I wanted to give people who have never been to Africa the opportunity to see it for themselves through the story of Doto.  I tried as much as possible to use details and actual incidents from my experience that would make it feel legitimate to the Central/Eastern Africa context. 

Second, I wanted to communicate spiritual truth in an allegorical form.  The characters and events depicted in this book at a bare minimum should cause the reader to pause and reflect.  I really tried to zero in on the idea that every human being has a God given destiny as they discover their true identity in Christ.  Obviously, this all takes place through the worldview and perspective of a young man who is slowly discovering both: identity and destiny.   As such, the reader is forced to extrapolate the ideas to his or her own life experience.  

Third, I wanted to generate income for missions projects in East Africa where I grew up and have lived for the past several years.  For this reason, all the proceeds from this book will go back into missions.  Primarily, the Kitengela University project in Kitengela, Kenya.  

The University is already well under construction with several of the buildings almost complete.   It is a life-long dream for my parents who have worked towards this reality for more than 25 years.     Well over a million dollars from several different sources has already gone into this project to build the initial classrooms.   The project will require at least another million dollars to complete.  That's a lot of money! Slowly, but surely, though it is becoming a reality!    Some really generous people are making some really big sacrifices to make the God-given dreams of young men and women a reality in East Africa.  

 So I decided that I would use this book as a way of generating awareness for the Kitengela University project.  Our culture is familiar with benefit concerts.  Benefit appearances.  Benefit races.  Even benefit shoes.  So why not a benefit book that will  impact the future lives and destinies of many in Kenya and beyond?  The Dream From Africa will be available on Amazon later this week.  The proceeds generated will go towards funding missions projects like the Kitengela University project in Kenya! 

 You can help make a difference for the future destinies of many young people in Kenya by reading this book and by helping to get the word out about this book to your friends and contacts.  Would you consider reading it?  And making others aware of the idea behind it? Especially if you like it after you read it? 

Right now it's only available in digital format, but hopefully, we can get it printed in the coming weeks.  

The Dream From Africa Chapter 2

2

All was quiet, well, almost all.  The crickets were finally concluding their normal boisterous performance as the wind lowered to a gentle whisper.  Darkness crept through the hills as the night settled into its proper place. The livestock were still in the encircled thicket.

On the farthest hill in an adobe hut the young goat herder awoke with his heart pounding madly in his chest.

Does the dream still have meaning? Could it almost be time for its fulfillment? Why had it disappeared for so long? Only to reawaken so forcefully in the night?  The questions exploded inside of him.  For some reason the dream only came in the darkest recesses of the night when everything was still. 

 Gasping for breath he realized that it was just a dream, his dream.  The dream that had guided him in life since it first marked him many years ago.   Indeed, it was a strange dream in the sense that it seemed more real than anything he had ever seen- especially the dark muddy walls encircling his straw matt.

 Staring at the rafters in the grass roof he wondered why this dream had become so frequent again.  This was the fourth time this week it had awakened him.

He had returned to his home village of Butukurayo about two weeks earlier.   He was on a quest.   It was a quest to reconnect with the purpose and passion that had guided his steps for the past fifteen years.  

When he had first returned to the village people were in disbelief. 

“It’s him.  It’s the young man from the newspaper. It’s Doto.” 

However, Doto didn’t care much for public opinion.  He never had and probably never would.  His sole desire in making the long trek back to the Northern plateau where his village still basked in the African sun was to find direction. There were just too many questions floating around in his mind.

 Fortunately, the old homestead where he had lived for so long as a boy and well into his teenage years remained largely in tact. He had decided to restore the place while he waited.  Many people asked what he was waiting for in this forlorn place.

“Your grandfather must be dead and no one has lived in this place for years.” 

Doto would nod in assent knowing full well that people didn’t understand. They didn’t understand him anymore than they had understood his grandfather or even his father for that matter.  He wasn’t bitter or even cynical about life.  Rather, he just needed clarification on what the next step should be.  

As the wind started to pick up again that night whistling through the thorn trees outside the little hut he had slept in for years, he heard the single cry of a hyena somewhere in the distance.   These familiar sounds produced their normal hypnotic effect on the young man. 

As his eyes became heavy he stretched his lanky frame out over the hard rocky floor in search of a softer spot.   Just as sleep would overtake his weary frame, the voice he knew only too well riveted his soul.   

“Real dreams never die they only go into hiding,” The voice belonged to his grandfather.

He had heard that voice for so many years.  It was a voice that he could never ever forget- distinguished pronunciation, rhythmic cadence, and gentle insistence.  Although grandfather had disappeared many months earlier, Doto knew without question that this was his voice.

“Doto, help the man in the dream” the quiet voice stirred the deepest recesses of his young heart. 

How he wished he could hear that voice again in person!     There was none its equal in the entire village, nor would there probably ever be again in the entire nation.  This one voice had patiently waited for the birth of a new era in his beloved land.  This voice had endured such suffering.  This voice had bequeathed a legacy that the young man now embraced.

Was it the fact that he missed hearing Grandfather say his name with such kindness and love? –“Doto”.  Or was it the fact that whenever Grandfather said the young man’s name wisdom and purpose poured into his heart like the rains flooding the great river.  He couldn’t decide at that moment. As he stared into the darkness of his room, his mind started to race. The majority of his thoughts centered around the man whose voice still resonated in his heart in that darkest hour of the African night when even the leopard sleeps.

He sorely missed Grandfather.  To distract himself, he reached for the strange metal insignia next to his straw mat.  It read: “Jemadari wa Jeshi Kuu”, Swahili for “Commander of the Armed Forces”.  As he turned the medallion over and over again in the palm of his hand his mind relived events that still seemed surreal to him.

On the table next to his mat was the picture that had forever changed his life.  He had been surprised to find it in Grandfather’s hut that day—in the same place it had sat years earlier.  

The young man now in his late twenties pondered many mysteries that night as he recalled the man and events that had altered his life forever.  This is Doto’s story and probably one somewhat similar to anyone else’s who has ever had a real dream.  

The Dream from Africa- A Preview

 Here is the 1st page of "The Dream From Africa" to give you a feel for this book.  I will have it uploaded on Amazon this coming week. 

1

No one remembered the last time the old man had made his way through the dusty streets of the village. He would disappear as mysteriously as he would appear. Sometimes years would pass before he materialized again.  For this reason, his presence always attracted immediate attention. Within minutes of walking into the market, people would begin gathering around the big Baobab tree on the outskirts of town, sure that he would have something important to share.

 Several years ago he had warned the people of the upcoming drought in his normal indirect way.   Then there had been the time that the whole area seemed on the verge of war with a neighboring village.  Cows had gone missing as accusations flared between the two groups. Just hours before the elders called for an armed response the old man had arrived.  Many innocent lives had been spared.

No one knew his name, or his place of origin, or his age, or if he had any family—things very important in the African tradition. In the village, they called him Mzee Hadithi, the Swahili title for a respected storyteller.  And telling stories seemed to be his passion in life. His tales of animals, kings, and valiant exploits had become legend. He had a gift for holding people spellbound—sometimes for hours, sometimes for days.  The stories in and of themselves were quite remarkable, but the lessons and truths he communicated through them left people with a thirst for truth.   He never really told anyone what to do, but by the time he was finished sharing, everyone knew what must be done.   Through his wisdom and insight the villagers had learned to negotiate even the most turbulent of situations.

So on this hot, dry African day, he sat down under the Baobab tree in his customary spot.   As usual, he waited several more minutes for the villagers to assemble.  Once everyone had gathered in the shade he quietly announced: “This story is called the Dream.”  He, then, placed his gigantic hands on his knees, took a deep breath, and began to share in the local tribal dialect saying, “All was quiet, well, almost all.” No sooner had the first words left his lips then he paused in deep thought for several moments before remarking: “This story could very well change your life, young people.”  With that he continued. As he slowly began to weave his tale everyone could tell that this would be one of his best stories ever.

It should be noted that for the purposes of this book, we have tried to translate Mzee Hadithi’s story as accurately as possible from the original dialect, making no guarantees whatsoever to the veracity of events mentioned. We can, however, attest to the impact that it had that day on the community. The story has now been repeated in varying forms throughout the entire region.

           The old man continued his story.   

The Dream From Africa part 2

The Dream From Africa is a life-long dream come true for me.  I've always wanted to write a novel about Africa.  Yet, this process was a very difficult one to complete with the busyness of life.  Several factors came together for me to make this a reality.  Here's a few thoughts that I learned on how to pursue what God has put into your heart.  .

1) Clarify the vision:  I had some general ideas of what this book would like, but nothing specific.  So I decided to sit down one day and draft a potential story-line for the book.  I included different characters and funny anecdotes that would help give the story more life and greater plausibility.  In doing this, I found some really great ideas that I was later able to expand into core components of the story.  Other aspects that I had originally considered very strong lost appeal as I scrutinized them closer.  The clearer the vision the easier to write. I was able to sit down even when time was precious and knock out some pretty substantial sections of the story.   By contrast, when I lost the vision and direction of the story, I meandered in a maze of mental blurriness.

 I find this to be true when speaking too.  Vision is everything.  When I know where I want to go in a message it's much easier to craft the ideas and thoughts that frame it.  Spend time working on your vision and you will save yourself much tedious work.  Vision is the hard work; writing is the easy part.

2) Get some coaching:  Yes, as funny as it might sound, I had multiple coaching sessions for writing this book.  By coaching, I'm not talking athletic here; I'm talking missional coaching through the process of asking powerful questions.   I attended a four day coaching workshop.  During this time we had to break up and practice the skills we were learning with other participants.  I asked for coaching on my book.  It helped me tremendously to lay out a plan that would to write the book.

Coaching is one of the most important things anyone can seek out.  Fortune 500 execs all have personal coaches to help improve their business skills and leadership decisions.  Ministry leaders are increasingly following suit.  If you have never entered the world of coaching, I strongly encourage you to seek one out.  It will be well worth any time or financial investment that you have to make.

3)  Take small action steps:  I found that I was either feast or famine in my motivation for writing.  Some days it seemed I could sit down and write for others- usually on days when my schedule prevented this from happening.  On other days, when I had more time on my hands it seemed like the writer's wall stared me in the face preventing me from advancing.  Both were very frustrating!  I found that the best way to overcome this was just to get something on paper.  I would try to do at least a page at a time.  I'm the kind of person who needs to feel like I'm making progress even if it's minimal.  Carving out enough time to write when I felt inspired and forcing myself to at least write something even when I didn't greatly helped.  Slowly, but surely the book came to life.  It took several months of writing before I hit the 100 page mark.  I'm clearly not one of these people who can sit down and write an entire book in a couple of weeks- at least not yet.

Likewise, keep the fire of your dream alive in your heart by fueling it frequently.  This may not look like much, but sometimes even a 5 minute investment of talking about it with a friend, studying more about it from other successful people, or attending a seminar or class can be just the thing to get the creative juices flowing again.

4) Pray.  I know that sounds cliche.  Nevertheless, I found prayer made a huge difference for me.  My thoughts always became clearer as I spent time in prayer.  In fact, one night I had a dream from which I gathered a lot of ideas that I eventually incorporated into the book.  I've never really had a dream about an adventure/political intrigue scenario before.  And since that was the general plot I had been considering for quite some time I took that to mean that it was ideas from the Lord.

Prayer unlocks your dream.  It gives flesh to your thoughts.  It stimulates the creative juices.  And opens the doors of connection to make it a reality.  Keep praying and your dream will become a reality.

5) Have fun: this one is probably the hardest to maintain. It's all too easy to get bogged down in trying to make something a reality.  Self-imposed pressure almost defeated my creativity.  It wasn't until I relaxed and stopped trying so hard that the story really started taking shape. I had to learn the all important lesson of having fun.

I would encourage you likewise to relax and stop trying too hard. Have fun.  Learn to enjoy what you are doing you will soon find the creativity flowing too.  

The Dream from Africa Part 1

Some two years ago I was going through a very difficult time.  I had been sick for nearly 3 months.  Sleep came to be in spurts- an hour here and an hour there.  The insomnia was terrible.  Many of my friends make fun of me because of my tendency to sleep in the closet, literally.  This strange habit developed due to my inability to sleep longer than a couple of hours at a spell on my bed.   So I would get up, throw a blanket on the closet floor, and fall back to sleep usually quite fitfully.

This lasted for another 5 months.  It was the sickest I've ever been, lymph node issues, adrenal collapse, parasites, worms, lesions in my throat, systemic yeast infection, etc..  It was horrible.  I trust that I will never have to endure such a season in my life.

One night I had a particularly hard bought with insomnia tossing and turning for hours on end before finally catching a few winks.  When I awoke I had a thought.  "You've always wanted to write a story about Africa. Why don't you take advantage of this down-time and start?"

 At first, I thought that my illness was giving my some kind of brain fog.  A book?  What would I write about?  Where would I get the ideas? If I did write it who would read it?  How would I get it out?  Besides that what did I know about writing books?  Especially a novel?

These were all good questions.  Unfortunately, my good questions almost talked me out of undertaking the endeavor.  The difficult part wasn't finding time or even starting; it was getting enough motivation to actually believe that I could put together a novel.  The idea had been birthed in my back in 8th grade.  My teacher at the time, Mrs. Richardson, gave all of us an assignment to write a 12 to 20 page fiction story that we could develop into a novel some day.  

I remember writing a short story entitled, "The Samburu Sun".  During that time a desire was impressed in me to write a full novel about the Africa that I so love and cherish.   Several years later I read parts of "The Shack," and thought "hmm... how cool would it be to write an African allegory with spiritual components."  Then, several years ago in Dar Es Salaam, my good friend Ron Johns introduced me to another allegorical masterpiece by a Brazilian author talking about the importance of finding of the purpose for one's life.  At that moment I determined that I would write a book that combined all three elements: fictional Africa, spiritual parallels, and quest for individual destiny.  

The dreams was in my heart, but the motivation to write no where to be found mainly because of fear and insecurity.   At my very lowest point physically and emotionally the Lord gave me the strength to start writing.  Slowly, the dream in my heart from my pre-teen days took shape.  I wrote with the intentions of keeping it short.  The more I wrote though, the more the story came to life and I felt as though I was writing something far bigger than myself.  It was a story with a message for anyone who had ever dared to dream a dream bigger than themselves, only to feel everything internally and externally trying to thwart and crush that dream.

This past week the story came back from the editor. The Dream from Africa is now a reality.  It is finally ready to be distributed.  I will start by uploading a digital version via Amazon in the next few days.  Then, possibly a hard-copy depending on demand.  Some 20 years after the Lord first placed it in my heart, my dream to write a novel has finally become a reality.   I want to encourage you today, not to sit idly on your dream, but to press forward and bring it to pass.  

How to Stand Firm in the 21st Century (Final)

12) Phil 3:16 Keep doing what you know to do:  This is such an important idea.  Far too often we are guilty of looking for the newest fad and sensationalistic idea  in our walk.  Believers search out new teachings and conferences like bees trying to pollenate flowers.  One week they are here; the next there.  One of the most important concepts for standing firm in the Lord can be summed up in one word: Faithfulness.  Are we being faithful to what we've already been entrusted with?  "I want something new and attractive." Are you obeying what He's already asked you to do?  The danger with always searching for new "words" and "teaching" is that we waste invaluable energy that should be invested in doing what we already know to do.  Please don't get me wrong, I like hearing other minister's ideas and thoughts.  It can be thought-provoking, challenging, and inspiring, but at the end of the day I'm not responsible for that word; I'm responsible for the one already given to me- the direction that the Lord has already showed me.  As such, the challenge is to live up to what we've already attained in the our walk of faith.  

As a friend used to say, "we have to keep on keeping on if we want to keep on keeping on in our faith."  For me that looks like simple obedience.  What has He asked me to do?  Where is the Spirit leading me?  Have I been in the Word?  Have I been consistent to love the people around me?  Am I walking in the grace already given me?  These are the most important questions in this area.  Remember that God doesn't despise the day of small beginnings; rather, He honors those who are faithful in the little by giving them more.  Do you want more?  More grace? More anointing? More insight? More direction?  Then, be faithful right now, right where you are! 

13)Phil 3:20  Develop a heavenly perspective: Paul concludes chapter 3 with one of the most beautiful thoughts ever--the power of perspective.  If we are going to people who stand firm in the 21st century then we must be people who stand with an eternal perspective on life.  It's critical.  Paul contrasts those who have their minds fixed on earthly things with those who know where their real reward, identity, and calling lies--heaven.   The story is told of Jonathan Edwards one of the primary leaders of the 1st Great Awakening in the US.  He carried some stones in his pocket everywhere he went.  Someone once asked him about it.  His reply connected the dots with this idea of living with eternity in sight.  He said that the rocks were a reminder to him of the judgment when each believers work will be tested by fire (I Cor. 3).  He didn't want his life  to be reduced to a pile rocks on the final day; he desired his life to produce gold, silver, and precious stones.  For this reason he preached every time as if it would be his last time.  He lived with life with an awareness that these brief moments are but a dressing room for eternity determining what rewards will await us on the other side.  I've never met a believer who has eternity in perspective who is backsliding and giving up their secure position of standing firm.  

By contrast, I've met many people who get side-tracked with earthly pursuits who have walked away from the faith.  The pull for authority and power, the desire for fame and reputation, the love of all things financial, a desire for the quick and expedient, the lusts of the flesh, the sucking force of worry and anxiety, etc.. All such things are distractions from the great desire imbedded in every human soul- eternity.   We must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ one day.  There is no intermediate stage between this life and that moment.  We all only get one dash between the day we are born and the day we die.  What we do between those two dates determines everything.   The great English Cricketer CT Studd, a national sports legend in his day, abandoned the so called good life because of this realization and moved to China as a missionary.  He wrote a poem based on a little booklet that shook his soul while still playing cricket.  The refrain says, "One life will soon be past; Only what's done for Christ will last."   Show me a person living their life with a Christ-consciousness, keeping the inward eye of the soul  on eternity, and an awareness of their final reward, and I will show you someone who is standing firm in the 21st century.  They are eagerly waiting for Christ to return and the glorious transformation of our physical bodies that will take place when we are reunited with him in person (see last verse).   

Practically speaking, one of my favorite things to do is listen to songs about heaven and read passages from the word that talk about heaven.  This isn't so that I can have some kind of escapist mindset from reality.  Rather, this is because I so eagerly desire to impact my current realities with the weight and force of heaven.  Remember how Jesus taught us to pray, "Let your kingdom come and your will be done."  Where? "On earth"  In what manner?  "As it is in heaven!"   Only heavenly minded people can bring heaven's realities to earth.   

I conclude this mini-series by encouraging each of you with this though.  You were born to stand firm in the 21st century.  It is possible.  And it is not only possible for you, but as  you do, your example will challenge and inspire those around you to also stand firm in their faith.

If you desire more thoughts on how to stand firm, I would suggest Ephesians 6.  It is loaded with more ideas, especially the last 15 verses or so.  It's details the necessity of putting on the full armor in order to stand firm.  Possibly another discussion for another day.     

How to Stand Firm in the 21st Century (Part 4)

9) Phil 3:10 "Suffering and resurrection power" In principle number 6 we briefly alluded to experience of suffering in the Christian life and how important it is to understand this reality in order to stand firm.  I would like to develop this thought a little deeper.    I've run in Christian circles where the emphasis is on suffering.  Somehow suffering is seen as some kind of special level of spirituality.  In my experience, this is never the case. While living in Madagascar the Lord showed me the purpose of suffering one day from this verse.  He showed me that suffering strips of self-reliance and forces us to come to grips with the message of the cross.  The message at the cross is that Jesus suffered and then rose again with resurrection power so that we can do the same.  Suffering always goes hand in hand with resurrection.  To take one away from the other.  If you are suffering right now, I want to encourage you take your suffering to the cross.  And move beyond it into a far more glorious reality--the resurrection power of Christ.  I remember feeling so lonely, so isolated, and cut off my first few months in Madagascar.   I lived in 6 different places in the first 6 weeks sleeping in some 12 different beds.  It wasn't much fun at all.  Whether you agree or not, I saw it as a form of suffering because I was going through all of this because of saying yes to Jesus and His missionary calling on my life.  

The temptation to have pity parties were tremendous.  "Woe is me!"  Have you ever been there?  "I'm going through such a tough time".   The Lord rebuked me very gently and showed me that He allowed this to happen so that I would draw nearer to Him.  In so doing, He showed me the cross.  I don't mean a wooden one in a church building, but rather the real power of the cross.  It is the place where we die to ourselves with the glorious end result of experiencing an inflow of heaven's power into our lives. Paul put it this way in Galatians 2:20 " I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live."  Stop.  Think about that for  a second.  "It is Christ who lives in me; the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."  Embracing the cross of Jesus isn't just the place where we receive forgiveness of sins.  It isn't just a place of suffering and anguish.  It is the place where we come to the end of ourselves so that we can experience the power and glory of the resurrection of Christ in our lives.  And I can honestly tell you that there is nothing like having Christ live on the inside. Do you want to stand firm in the 21st century?  Then take your suffering to the cross and embrace Christ's power available for you- TODAY.  

10) Phil 3: 12 "Keep pressing on": I love the idea of our Christian walk being similar to climbing a mountain.  David develops this idea frequently in the Psalms by alluding to our pursuit of God being like a climber ascending the hill of the Lord.  The reason I like it so much is because of this idea of pressing on.  Let's be honest, it is really easy to get comfortable and hit a plateau in our walk with the Lord.  Things become easy. Blessings abound our way.  And so we go into cruise control mode where we just let our lives coast along.  For many people living in the West this is all the more common because of the comfort of our culture and national prosperity that we enjoy.  Yet, as believers we are not called to get cozy and comfortable talking about "The good old days" in our walk with the Lord.  We are called to keep pressing on!  For some, the temptation is to give up because of how difficult this season has been.  You don't feel like you're coasting at all. You feel like you've been steadily losing ground and you wonder if it's worth it to even keep trying.  I have a word for you today: "Keep pressing on."  

Paul tells the believers that no matter how great his experiences in Christ have been (the resurrection power) and no matter how difficult his trials have been (the suffering), he has made a decision:  he must keep pressing on towards the high calling Christ Jesus.   No matter who you are, how long you've walked with the Lord, how easy or how difficult it's been, you need to continue in this walk of faith until you see Jesus face to face by "pressing on."  The greek is even stronger for this word. It means: "to run swiftly in order to catch a person or a thing; to run swiftly in a race to reach the goal; to seek after eagerly, earnestly with the endeavor to acquire."  This is your calling: to swiftly run after Jesus! To find His glorious love with which He gloriously loved you.  Remember your ultimate calling is to know and love Jesus. Period.  Everything else in life falls into place when you get this priority set.  And the only way to accomplish this is to run swiftly after Jesus.  I promise you that if you are swiftly pursuing HIm you will have no time for abandoning your place of sure standing.  

David Livingstone, the great missionary explorer of Africa, used to say: "I will go in any direction provided that it be forward." 

11) Phil 3:13 "let go of the past to move into your future":  Another key point for standing firm in the 21st century is to let go of the past.  Paul even goes one step further by saying, "this one thing I do".  I've thought long and hard about this comment and I think that he had difficulty forgetting the things that he had done in the past.  He attacked Christians ferociously.  Dragged them off to prison. Confiscated their belongings.  Yes, he had a troubled past that he needed to forget in order to keep moving forward in his walk with the Lord.  I wrote extensively about condemnation in last week's blog, but if Paul needed to press past condemnation in order to keep moving forward than I promise that you will too.   The best way to do this is to keep your eyes fixed on Christ and His destiny and purpose for your life.  You haven't been brought into the Kingdom, washed by His blood, and made an heir of His promises just so you can wallow in the place of shame and condemnation.  Hardly, you have been brought into the Kingdom for a specific purpose.  Don't let the enemy keep you from reaching it by living in the past.  Another thing that keeps people in the past is religion. 

Some of you reading this blog grew up very religiously with lots of strict rules of do's and don'ts.  And you may even think that Jesus is a strict task-master waiting to punish you.  If that is the case, you need to realize what Paul realized--Jesus came to set people free and to liberate their hearts so that they could enjoy God and live lives of significance in the Kingdom.  God has something great in store for you!  It may not look like it now, but He does.  Don't let sin, religion, or disappointments with people or situations (see How to Survive a Toxic Ministry Situation from July) keep you from moving forward into your God ordained future.  Press toward the goal that Christ is calling you to in Christ Jesus!  This is no surer way to stand firm in Christ than to keep moving forward towards His calling on your life.  

How to Stand Firm in the 21st Century (Part 3)

6)   Phil 3:7 "Be willing to suffer loss for Christ": Here lies one of the greatest challenges of walking with Christ and yet, one of the single most important determining factors in being able to stand firm in our walk with Christ in the 21st century.  Are you willing to suffer loss for the cause of Christ?  Yes, it's an easy question to ask, but a much more difficult reality to experience.  Unfortunately, many believers have been taught that becoming a Christian is equal to winning the lottery or hitting it big with heaven's jackpot.  They feel that if you are believer you should expect only continual blessing, material advantage, prosperity, ease, and happiness.  The only problem with this message is that it is not the Gospel. Jesus doesn't come to make our lives a living utopia on this side of eternity.  Please don't misunderstand, I fully believe that there are many blessings in walking with Christ.  And He does supply our needs- in His way and His timetable.  He is faithful and kind. A gracious God abounding in goodness.  There is no question about this.  And there are incredible benefits in serving Jesus- joy, peace, righteousness, forgiveness of sins, a relationship with God, answered prayer, deliverance, freedom, etc...  Yet, to live as if you will never have to go through a tough time or never have to make any kind of sacrifice is ridiculous. It simply doesn't line up with the Word of God.  Most of the great stories of the Bible that inspire us as believers such as Daniel and the lions Den, David & Goliath, Joshua and the walls of Jericho are so outstanding because of the opposition and difficulty our favorite Bible characters were going through at the time.  

I have found that believers who have never developed a theology of suffering--that believers will and indeed, must go through tough times on this side of eternity, are the first to collapse and lose their firm position the moment that tough times come their way.  Write it down: you will go through tough times, but Jesus is will never leave you or forsake you.  And in these tough times He will reveal Himself to you in ways you never thought possible deepening and enhancing your relationship with Him.  And He will use these tough times of testing to produce great fruit in your life as He develops your character.  Paul tells the believers that He has realized a secret: Christ is worth it all.  In other words, no matter the pain or sorrow of giving something up or walking through a tough time of rejection or being misunderstood for your faith, Christ will make Himself more real and more precious in your life than you could ever have thought possible.  

The end result is that to give things up for the sake of Christ ultimately produces much gain.   If you can keep your eyes on this truth you will be able to stand in the face of tough times and not surrender your firm position.  I have personally walked through some of the most difficult and trying times of my life the past 36 months.  This followed some of the most difficult times of my life for a period of two years which followed one of the most difficult periods of two years.  In each season I have grown to love and value Jesus like I never thought possible.  My life has been transformed.  My character refined and purified.  And my influence for Christ greatly increased. What am I saying?  Tough times are a part of every believers life, but God is faithful to us in each season and will make the season have eternal significance.  I look back and wouldn't wish some of the things I've had to walk through on my worst enemy and yet I would trade it for the world. I know that sounds weird, but I promise you Jesus will walk with you and if you will trust Him, He will make even your darkest season a source of great gain in your life.  

7) Phil 3:8 "Grow in the knowledge of Christ"--The surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ.  This is the key to all spiritual endurance, Christian maturity, increasing intimacy, and holy passion for God.   What will keep you standing firm in the 21st century more than anything else?  Growing in the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Christ.  This knowledge isn't a head knowledge of memorizing a few facts about Jesus i.e. He was born of a virgin and died on a cross.  This is an experiential, personal revelation of Christ to our souls.  This is knowledge of the heart that comes by faith through the indwelling presence of Holy Spirit actively revealing the nature and character of Jesus to our souls.  I love how the Amplified version reads of this verse, "the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly.  That is so powerful.  So precious. And so profound.  

Are you growing in your knowledge of Christ?  

Are you learning to share His heart?  

Are you growing in His Word?  

Are you more deeply in love with Him now than you were when you first believed? 

 Are you growing in obedience?  Are you listening for His voice?  Are you spending consistent and concerted time in His presence?   

These are the questions that will determine whether your knowledge of Christ is deepening.  I have never met a believer who backslid who was growing in their personal knowledge of Christ. It's quite impossible.  Such people are standing firm in the face of whatever the enemy is trying to throw against them.   The 21st century is going to become an increasingly hostile and difficult place for believers.  Yet, those who know their God shall be mighty and do great exploits to demonstrate the all-surpassing greatness and glory of walking with Jesus (Dan 11:32).  You are called to be one of them.  

8) Phil 3:9 "Walk in true righteousness"-  Here is probably one of the greatest verses in the New Testament.  Martin Luther led a reformation in the church based on one verse: "the just shall live by faith."  His contention was that righteousness couldn't be earned by doing good works or by human striving to attain God's perfection.  Rather, he declared that righteousness is by faith in the merits of Jesus Christ the perfect Son of God.  Where in the world did he get this idea?  From Paul.  Paul had tried to earn his righteousness before God.  Righteousness means right standing before God.  He had obeyed the laws, kept the commandments, studied the specialized teachings on implementing the law of Moses, sat under one of the most prominent spiritual mentors of the day, strived, tried, and came up with a net result of ZERO.  His righteousness was worthless.  He admits it freely.  He realized that man's effort, even at our very best is considered as filthy rags (Is. 64:6).  It's worthless, meaningless, and a vain hope for this life as well as the one to come.  This breaks down two ways.

First, there are the legalists among us.  I have struggled with this issue on many occasions in my life.  Did I spend enough time in prayer? Did I read the Word enough?  Legalism is such a bondage and turns the joy of knowing God and walking in His ways into a heavy burden and bondage that saps the joy right out of us. Oh the joy of discovering that I didn't have to earn righteousness on my own standing, my own accomplishments, and my own abilities.  The simplicity of trusting in Jesus to impute His righteousness into my soul that I now stand before my heavenly Father clothed in the perfection of His Son.  It's too good to be true and yet, it is perfectly true.  I am now considered righteousness.   Do I still struggle with sin and temptations right and left?  You better believe it.  Yet, the more that I walk in my true identity of righteousness as a son sharing the righteousness of the Son, the more I find grace and strength to overcome my old nature.   If you are struggling with legalism, it is because your faith has never understood the perfection of what Christ has already done for you.  Spend time in Word asking Holy Spirit for insight into what Christ really accomplished at the cross by His blood.  It will produce a new understanding in your heart that will be expressed with fresh faith to trust Him for true righteousness. 

Second, there are those who lean more towards licentiousness. These are the people who have no trouble with sin- over and over and over and over again. It's like a broken record.  They pray a quick prayer for forgiveness with no intention of ever changing.  Their argument is that they believe in God so things will be good no matter how they live their lives.  News flash: even the devil and his demons believe in God and have an eternal destiny in the fires of hell to look forward to. Belief is never enough.  Faith is far different from a mere belief.   Faith is active.  As such it produces a corresponding transformation in our lives.  This comes through the imparted work of Christ's righteousness in our lives.   In other words, a person who has truly believed and received the righteousness of Christ is a person who is progressively being conformed to His image.  I didn't say they were perfect. None of us are or ever will be on this side of eternity.  They are, however,  increasingly being transformed to look and act like Jesus Christ the righteous one.  His righteousness is continually coming to the fore. When they make mistakes they are quick to return to His open arms precisely because they realize who they represent; His righteousness in their lives produces the beauty of His personality in them.  They have right standing with God and have no desire to ever leave this secure place of standing firm.  

Through faith in Jesus we are considered  righteous-- partakers of Christ's righteousness.  What a glorious thought! We stand firm because He stands firm.  

How to Stand Firm in the 21st Century (Part 2)

3)  Phil 3:3 "Worship by the Spirit"- Worship is an integral part of standing firm in Christ and His strength.  It's an old English word that literally means to "assign worth to something."  It speaks of values and priorities in our lives.  In a general sense it focuses on the idea of What do we assign worth to in our lives.  It deals with the heart issue of allegiance and often implies some measure of sacrifice. True worship always costs something.  It requires us to let go; to no longer be in control and surrender to Christ and His purposes for our lives.    Paul is reminding the believers that worship must be of the Spirit in order for it to really satisfy our spirits.  This is why it is entirely possible to sing songs in a "worship service" and never once truly worship.  Obviously, genuine worship is far more than going to a church service and singing songs, but it illustrates the point well.  In Romans 12:1, Paul reminds us that true worship is to be aware of Christ's mercy and offer our bodies as  living sacrifice, implying obedience and surrender.  Then he says that this is your spiritual act of worship.   True worship then is much more than singing, but obedience and surrender to Jesus.  This requires a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit; a leaning and relying on His guidance.  So let's ask the question:  Are you listening to the Holy Spirit's still small promptings in your heart?  Are you obeying them?  Are you making every effort to surrender your life to His leadership and guidance?  This is worship. 

Having said that I don't want to minimize the importance of worship in the general sense of the word.  Singing to the Lord with a worshipful heart of adoration and respect is essential in standing firm in the 21st century.  I can't even begin to describe how many times worship of this nature has literally saved my life.  I learned during a very trying season when disappointment, discouragement, despair, and depression were my lot that if I could just get my heart singing to the Lord and thinking about His goodness and greatness, I would soon become aware of His beauty, power, majesty, and greatness.  This, in turn, broke the heaviness of hell over my life and gave me the courage and grace to continue standing.  Often during these times of vocal worship, my heart would be captivated again by His love and I would feel the need to be quiet and contemplate the truths Holy Spirit was illuminating to my heart.  Often, He would instruct me to surrender areas of my life as I engaged with what He was speaking to me.   So let me summarize by saying that worship is essential to living in worship.  And living in worship is essential to actually being able to worship.  And both require an active relationship with the Spirit of God.  

4) Phil 3:3 "Glory in Christ":  The idea here is that our source and sense of delight in life is found in Christ. We allow Him to satisfy us.  This is essential in standing firm.  Many believers never learn the principle of allowing Christ to be enough in their lives.  They are always chasing after "other things."  For some it's new teachings, conferences, and methods, none of which are wrong, in fact, they are often very helpful provided that the main thing remains the main thing: Jesus Christ.  For others, it's a need to have new possessions--cars, gadgets, gizmos, whatever.  The idea is that they find their value or delight in things.  They are continually trying to scratch some inner itch with external things when only Christ can truly satisfy the heart and soul of person.  We are all born with an innate desire to champion a cause, or a purpose, a dream, or life calling.  Paul is saying that Christ must be our cause, our purpose, our dream, and our calling.  Where do we find our sense of satisfaction?  Where do we find our sense of accomplishment?  Where do we derive our sense of self worth?  Ultimately, the foundation to all of these questions must center around Christ and His love towards us.  Without this we will float from one thing to another, from one title to another, from one pursuit or hobby to another.  Jesus is enough.  This is message to those who would stand firm in this tumultuous hour.   Delight in His love.  Delight in His favor towards you.  Delight in His all sufficiency for every trial and challenge that you face. In so doing you will soon be well on your way to learning how to Glory in Christ.  Obviously, this isn't a one time deal. This is life-long process of learning to trust Jesus to be enough for whatever physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental need you are facing in your life right now.   A great prayer to pray along these lines is "Lord teach me how to find my satisfaction in you in this area." 

5) Phil 3:3 "No confidence in the flesh": This idea is very closely connected with the previous one.  We must find our glory or confidence in Christ if we are ever going to hope to overcome the temptation to find our sufficiency and confidence in and of ourselves.  It is so easy to boast about our accomplishments, titles, positions, finances, job successes, gifts and talents, etc...  In so doing, we often acquire an over-inflated assessment of ourselves as if we have achieved or attained these things in our own abilities.  Paul goes on to demonstrate in the following verse how he possessed both the pedigree and position to boast about all kinds of spiritual and natural success.  He had a rich spiritual history, deep experiences, a fabulous mentor, and incredible credentials.  Yet, he realized that it was all based on his own merits, strivings, and human efforts.  None of which could even begin to touch the riches found in Christ.   Confidence in the flesh is a sure way to become a slave of legalism and empty religious practices.   Confidence in the Spirit and in what Jesus has promised and accomplished for us is a sure way to walk in freedom and authentic spirituality.  

 I like to think of it this way:   If we depend on the flesh, we get what the flesh can accomplish.  If we depend on the Spirit, we get what the Spirit can accomplish.  I don't know about you, but I've tried in my own strength and seen what limited and weak results I've mustered.  By contrast, I've also tasted the beauty of depending and relying on Jesus as my confidence and seen what incredible things He has worked in and through my life.   Practically speaking, this is only possible as we learn to incorporate Christ into our daily activities. For me, this often looks like a praise break where I will just start magnifying Christ for a couple of minutes spontaneously;  another good idea is short prayers of dependency throughout the day--one man of God used to say: "I never pray more than 30 minutes but I never go more than 30 minutes without prayer."  Start the day out with an invitation for Holy Spirit to come and use your life to glorify Jesus that day. It's a prayer that I don't think has ever been unanswered in my life.  

Finally, I find that many people have incredible latent talents and potential that they somehow have never been able to get on going with any kind of positive momentum.  In my opinion,  this is because we have never learned to find our confidence in Christ.  Up to this point, I've referred to over-assertive people; however, the opposite is also valid, under-assertive people need to find confidence in Jesus.  For me this has been a revolutionary idea that has brought a lot of momentum in my life. Finding our confidence in Christ doesn't mean that we forfeit our God-given talents.   My confidence is in Jesus. 

 Can I give you a practical example?  I knew I wanted to write.  However, I always lacked the motivation to write.  I thought it was due to this reason or the other.  Only recently did I discover that the real reason was the I was afraid; afraid that no one would read what I wrote, afraid that it wouldn't make sense;  afraid that....   It all stemmed back to insecurity which is the exact opposite of finding confidence in Jesus and learning to glory in Him.  The past 2 years I have prayed fervently, "Lord let my confidence be in you; not in a sense of compensation for my own inner insecurities."  I have just completed book number 2.  And they are both in the edit process; soon to be published.  One is a novel and one is motivational book on missions and Kingdom living.  Will people ever read them?  I don't know and I realize that is really isn't the issue anymore. My confidence is now in Jesus not in results, and I'm being true to the gifs that HE has deposited in my life.  Find your confidence in Him and there is no limits to what you can accomplish for His glory.  

How to Stand Firm in the 21st Century (Part 1 of several)

I was reading Philippians today.  My eyes landed on the first verse of chapter four.  

"My brothers and sisters, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord’s strength."

My heart was sad because of the announcement of a close friend of mine that he was going to abandon his Christian faith in favor of a cult. 

When I heard the news I was shocked because I had the privilege of leading him to the Lord and walking with him in much of his early spiritual formation.  This dear friend has a mighty touch of God on his life--following his conversion, the Lord  used him to reach people in some incredible ways.  Hundreds of lives have been touched for Jesus through his unassuming presence.  He has faithfully served in his local church for years.  Truthfully,  I admired him as someone who burned with a desire to see people know Christ.  

Sin slipped in not so long ago.   Confusion followed.  Condemnation from the enemy soon clobbered him.  Christians threw stones instead of love.  This lead to a wound of toxicity in his soul producing bitterness and the lies of darkness in his heart. Unfortunately, he has decided to believe these lies of the enemy, at least for the time being.  I'm fervently praying that Jesus would grip his heart again and draw him back.  

As I read this verse this, I thought about the importance of standing firm. It is essential!   What really shook me about my friend's announcement is that it seemed to come out of no where.  I had previously thought that he was in a pretty stable place spiritually.  I didn't realize what he was walking through as we have been disconnected for several months now.    As I dialogued with him I realized that this wasn't some instantaneous development that came out of nowhere.  Rather, this decision is the result of a gradual atrophy in several key areas.   He has been teetering for a while; my interaction with him was just the moment that he decided to give up standing. 

Paul's words shook me.  He knew that believers often start well.  This is often connected with lots of hype and emotion.   No problem there.  The challenge  is finishing well too. All athletes start a race at the same place.   What determines the winner is the rest of course.  In other words, in between initiating and completing is a time gap full of the complexities of life.  It is here that we win or lose the battles of our soul.   I think this is the essence of what Paul is trying to communicate in this verse.  Our relationship with Christ is won or lost on this question--are we standing firm in the Lord's strength?  Paul knew this was essential so he wrote the newly founded church in Philippi with an action plan for standing firm in the faith.  

I would like to share some thoughts on how to stand firm in the faith.  It is not necessarily easy, but it is possible.  And with God's help we can go the distance in our walk with Christ.  Remember it's not how you start that matters, but how well you finish.  My heart cries for people in my generation abandoning their faith at the first sign of trouble or a difficult time.  They are spiritual casualties of the enemy's warfare in the 21st century.  There is a different way.  You don't have to falter in your faith half-way to the finish line.  You can stand firm to the end no matter what hell throws your way--be it deception, condemnation, temptation, fear, oppression, rejection, infirmity, insecurity, lack, or doubt, etc..    

Here's some ideas on how to remain firm in the Lord: 

1) Phil 3:1  "Learn to rejoice":  This seems to be a theme of the book.  Paul is writing from a prison cell somewhere underneath Caesar's palace. His advice is learn to rejoice.  I like to think of rejoicing as the ability to find joy in Jesus no matter what situation of life you are going through.  We all know there are going to be tough times.  This is part of the human experience.  What distinguishes human beings who know Jesus and human beings who don't know Jesus is their joy.  Don't confuse this with happiness.  Happiness is base on current circumstances and situations.  If things are good and going my way, then I can be happy; but when things are ugly and difficult then I'm not happy.  True joy, rejoicing, is the freedom to move away from the shallowness of American culture and find joy in Jesus no matter what life is throwing at us.   Yes, it is definitely easier said than done.  The good news though is that Jesus delights in sharing His joy with us even when we feel like we are at the end of our personal capacity to experience joy. On multiple occasions I have been so discouraged and depressed that I wanted to give up on life.  

As I made the mental shift to focus on Jesus instead of the situation my perspective changed.   I saw things in a new light and found reasons to praise instead of complain.  This caused my heart to thank God instead of accuse Him.  Gratitude quickly produces hope that He has been faithful in the past and will be faithful in the future.  Soon joy returned back to my heart because I knew God was bigger than my situation.  The funny thing is that all of this took place without anything externally changing.  This is the power of finding our joy in Him!  Situations come and go, but He remains full of goodness and grace.   Train your heart to focus on His character and nature.  Discipline your mind not to "go there" as it relates to the negativity and "what ifs" of difficult situations.   And finally, learn how to praise Him.  For me this is most often with music and song.  People say I like to sing a lot.  My only response is because I can't afford not to.  It is my way of focusing on Jesus and finding joy in the midst of trouble.  Joy in Jesus will keep you standing firm.  Always remember that in His Presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11)

2) Phil 3:2 "Find godly leaders and models":  This is a key idea in learning to stand to firm.  Paul warns the believers to stay away from people that sound really convincing spiritually, but are teaching false doctrine.  A model is a pattern that a person chooses to follow.  So  a good model is someone who has been where you are and can help you get where you want to go.  A few verses later in verse 17, Paul encourages these believers to follow his example as well as those who are implementing the model that he left behind.  Good advice.  People who stand firm in the Lord's strength are people who have surrounded themselves with godly role models.  These are people who have a prove track record in the Lord.  People who have a consistent walk with Jesus and base their lives on His Word.  What makes someone a solid role model/leader?  I believe it boils down to one word--obedience.  They have learned  to implement the truths of God's word in their daily life.  This is so important as it is all too easy become fake in our spirituality.  I know many people who know the right lingo, but have glaring issues in their lifestyle.  The problem is that they haven't implemented the Word. 

 I will never forget a speaker in chapel while at university making this statement:  "Show me your five closest friends and I will show you who you will be in five years."    Look for life-giving, Jesus-based friendships.  These are the kind where you want to invest time and energy.  Monitor your spiritual intake closely.  Where are you getting your spiritual nourishment?  Is it based on the unchanging truth of God's Word?  What is the caliber of this/these person/people's life?  Are they practicing what they are preaching?  Do they ever challenge or rebuke you?  If not, it's doubtful that they are really preaching the truth at all.    Remember this general rule of thumb: "Spiritually speaking you will become like the person you are allowing to speak into your life."   If you want to stand firm, you are going to need people around you that inspire you, model authentic spirituality for you, challenge you to keep growing, and encourage you not to quit. 

  One final lesson I've learned on this point.  If you are currently lacking in this department, ask God to bring the right people into your life.  I will never forget praying along these lines while in university. I was desperately lonely and felt my need for godly models.  Within 6 months God brought 7 young men into my life who are still some of my best friends today.  Additionally, he connected me to several great pastors in the Tulsa area who nourished my soul.  God is faithful.  He wants you to stand firm.  He wants you to have vibrant models and friendships in your life.  Ask Him! 

Conquering the cons of condemnation (Part 5 of 5)

7)    Let Jesus love you: This is essential in overcoming condemnation.  We need to fall deeper in love with Jesus. This is true.  Yet, the Bible is clear: We love Him because He FIRST loved us (I John 4:19).  This is true both the very first time we receive Christ as our Savior as well as every day following.  We must allow Jesus to love us.  Theologically, I accepted this idea since I was young.  We sang about it in Sunday School and children’s church: “Jesus loves me this I know.”  The only problem is that all that I only knew it in my head, but not in my heart.  I will never forget the first time in prayer when He whispered to my hurting heart to tell me that He wasn’t mad at me.  I think I retaliated with something really spiritual like, “well, you should be.”  This began a journey of learning to bask in His love.  I love what Graham Cooke says, “God is the kindest person  I’ve ever met.”  In His kindness He lavishes His love on us.  And the surest way to beat condemnation is to get so full of Christ’s love that there is simply no more room for self-hatred.  This will take time.  This will require perseverance.  Our hearts will fight such radical love, especially if we have a religious mindset that sees God as the big thug trying to take shots at us.

Let the truth of His love move from just being a promise to becoming a presence In your life.  Let His love move from your head to your heart.   In order for this to happen you’ll have to learn to listen for His voice.  At first, your own flesh will trick you into thinking that you are hearing His voice, when in reality you aren’t.  Keep believing and keep trusting the Scriptures.  Soon you will hear a different voice- quiet and peaceful that agrees with the truths of Scripture.  It is the voice of healing.  His voice. 

Practically speaking, this will require time. I’m not the kind of person who says you need to spend this amount of time or that amount of time with the Lord everyday.  But from personal experience I can tell you that it usually takes me a minimum of 20-30 minutes of soaking in the Word and in His presence before the other voices in my life: my flesh, fear, etc… is quieted and I can truly begin to hear His voice. 

8) Walking in the power of the Spirit:  Another essential key to conquering the con of condemnation is the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer.  Always remember that this is a spiritual battle.  As such, we need spiritual weapons with which to combat the tactics of our enemy.  Good news! Holy Spirit has been sent by Jesus himself as the Paraklete.  It’s a greek term that basically means the helper, the comforter, the advocate, the counselor, etc…  His role is to point us to Jesus and remind us of everything that Jesus taught in Scripture.  I don’t just mean some empty head knowledge of the facts of Christianity, but the revelation of the truths of God made alive and practical in our lives.

Throughout Scripture we are instructed to walk in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit, follow the Spirit, be full of the Spirit, etc..  Why?  This isn’t rocket science.  We need Holy Spirit if we are going to be victorious believers.  I love to teach on the book of Acts.  It demonstrates the power of Holy Spirit in the life of believers. What triggered this glorious inflow of heavenly activity? Acts two tells the story.  They were praying and waiting on the promise that Jesus had given them. They would receive the Holy Spirit and power.  Some ten days went by before the day of Pentecost arrived.  Then suddenly, a blowing wind with tongues like fire and they all start speaking in other tongues.  In our day, the idea of being baptized in the Spirit has suffered much unnecessary bad press.  A huge part of this is because of the hypocrisy and duplicity in the lives of people who say they are baptized by the Spirit.  Another criticism comes from those who say it isn’t legit due to some very one-sided exegesis.  My intention isn’t to go too deep into this topic right now; but I do want to tell you that the baptism in the Spirit is real.  It is available for all believers.  And it is absolutely essential in conquering condemnation. 

I learned the necessity of praying in the Spirit when waves of condemnation would try to sweep over me.  Tongues is essential in this regard.  As I prayed my spirit would rise up in me with faith and hope.  I gained new perspective.  Verses came to mind useful in fighting the good fight of faith.  Strength was released to resist the enemy.  This isn’t just a one-time deal. I’ve learned to pray in the Spirit everyday. As we pray in the Spirit  strongholds in our minds are pulled down.  And strongholds in the mind, i.e. our perceptions and paradigms, take time. So keep praying in the Spirit!

For those of you who haven’t been baptized in the Spirit, I would encourage you to take 3 simple steps. 

 1) Ask:  We need to be intentional about taking the first step of asking Jesus to baptize us in His Spirit.  For those who have asked before with no result—keep asking. I asked for months before Jesus filled me.

 2) Believe: This isn’t just some far-fetched notion that could possibly be a reality.  There are clear promises that produce faith in us.  The one that solidified my faith is Acts 2:39 “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”  This promise is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and its available for all who are far off—a distant generation that I’m a part of and it’s available to everyone the Lord calls to Himself! 

 3) Receive:  It’s easy to get comfortable on point 1 and 2, but remember that the end goal isn’t just to ask or even to have faith.  We need to receive what has been promised and exercise that gift by learning to pray in the Spirit.  

Condemnation is a  con. We are called to conquer it through the truth of the Word, the honesty of confession, genuine repentance, the richness of God’s love, and the power of the Spirit.