The Journey of Faith

  One of the life's greatest ongoing challenges is to have the proper sense of direction and purpose for every stage of life. It's not just the young who feel the stress of answering the questions, "So, what do you do?", "Where are you going?", "What's your purpose?", "What are you living for?"

Life is a series of passages and destinations. What we believe to be our ultimate destination is often just a transit station on the way to somewhere else. People are pilgrims. Our journey in life is meant to have guidance and direction that brings an inner sense of completion and satisfaction. Human beings are created by God to walk with him in an amazing adventure of satisfying relationship and accomplishments inspired by love. But why do we get lost so often?

At birth our inner spiritual antenna (our inner person) is broken. We bear an image of our creator marred by original sin (think Adam & Eve). Our whole sense of who we are: our desires, gifting, sense of self etc.. is dependent on the influence of family and friends. Those with stable home influences and friends often develop a healthier understanding of direction and purpose in life. When we are born into chaos we suffer serious consequences. Behind the scenes, God is not absent but working in and out of circumstances to bring us back to himself (redeem us).

We were created with a deep need to know and love God. Our sin (moral failure) has deeply affected our ability to hear God's voice clearly. At times we sense our need for him. Loneliness, depression, fear, anxiety and confusion are often a clarion call that something is not right...something is indeed missing. No one is immune from inner turmoil. The rich suffer equally with the poor from spiritual emptiness and struggle. No matter where we are on the planet, we're searching for our real home.... for a love that can only be fully known in Jesus Christ.

Scripture proclaims our worth and value in stark and striking terms, "For it was you (God) who created my inner person, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well." You are not a mistake. There is nothing random about your life. Both your successes & failures have a purpose...to draw you closer to the one who created you. Psalm 139 goes on to declare, "Your eyes saw me when I was formless, all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began."

Prayer is meant to be conversational and not an exercise in begging. God put you on the planet and he knows you are in desperate need of his voice and help. But the key to finding direction in a lost world is not primarily based on telling God what you need and desire. The greatest acts of intimacy are always born of listening. Listening implies trust. Listening implies respect. Listening implies rest. And listening allows for love to deepen. It's not about getting what you want anymore. It's all about knowing your lover more. The God of the Bible loves people. Jesus loves you....right now. Listen for his voice above all others.

Even in the midst of our sin, brokenness, imperfection.... our lostness..... God came.... to bring us back home....with him.
A self centered and self directed life is a very wide and confusing road. It's a crowded and yet lonely road. The way to God is narrow....not because God is narrow.... no far from it. God's road is narrow because it's a two lane path. Room for you and him. He is calling you to walk with him in a unique and meaningful way. He wants to place his arm around you and whisper in your ear, "This is the way, walk with me." Every pilgrim has a unique pathway but the same Savior and God. The tyranny of comparison and jealousy is erased when we finally realize just how profound and precious God's love is. He's crafted a pathway of intimacy for you and him.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. If you're lost.... if you're seeking direction, purpose & meaning in this journey we call life....it's time to be still and listen for the voice who will not only make a way for you....... He will be your way in a lost world.

Jim

Failing Forward

  Failure. It's a word we dread. We don't want to confront it, talk about it or be defined by it. But failure is a reality we will all experience on our journey of life. How we respond to failure will in many ways define how we respond to its counterpart: Success. Failure is an inability to perform to an expected outcome.... at its root it is a fracturing of who we are ....under stress. We break down and we are unable to complete what we are assigned, called to or expected to achieve. To fail at something we deeply desire leaves us feeling broken at every level: relationally, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

  To achieve, to attain and to complete is a very human reality and desire. We don't exist to survive....we exist to create, to build, to relate and to change our world for good. But along life's journey we don't always get to where we want to go, when we want to get there and with whom we would like to travel. We are not as in control as we would like!

   Our deepest human need is relational. When we have satisfying, intimate and meaningful human relationships we have inward peace. When we FAIL in our relationships, our soul suffers an almost inconceivable level of pain and discomfort. We were born for love and not hatred. When things don't go well in our relationships, it can begin a series of responses and reactions that only confuses the sense of direction and purpose in our lives.

  Peter was one of Jesus closest and most trusted friends. Peter was a risk taker.... a leader whom others admired and respected. But Peter was deeply flawed on the inside.  Peter achieved much due to his boldness and willingness to literally 'get out of the boat'. But boldness is no subtitute for knowing our places of weakness and vulnerability. Jesus knew where the 'stress points' were in Peter's character. He loved Peter so much that he warned him in advance of Peter's greatest failure in life.  At the time of Jesus greatest need for support relationally, Peter denied knowing Jesus. Peter remembered the warning too late and failed his Lord.... and his friend. Later, Peter was restored to relationship with Jesus because he knew deep within there was nowhere else to go with his failure.  Peter failed forward in the direction of relationship. He fell back in love with the Jesus who came looking for where he knew he could find him....fishing. We were made to do certain things in life. We are shaped, formed and prepared to accomplish 'certain' things in this life (See Ephesians chapter 2 vs 8). But we are not meant to do them alone....or for our self aggrandizement or glory. Everthing we do well is meant to reflect well upon him who made all things and called them good. When we falter, when we fail, when we deny and when we betray, there is a God of love who proves his great mercy and love by taking us back into relationship.  The cross upon which our Savior died is proof for every one of us that failure need not be final. We can be restored back to relationship.  Peter's great denial did not mean that Jesus would deny him....instead Peter became what his name called him to be the great rock of testimony..... Jesus saves, Jesus forgives, Jesus restores.

  In contrast to Peter's restoration is the life of Judas.  Judas was also one of Jesus closest confidantes. He walked with Jesus during all of his active ministry. He saw the miracles and the amazing love of Jesus at work on a daily basis. He walked with Jesus  and knew him intimately. But like Peter, Judas was deeply flawed on the inside. Judas had an agenda that was unspoken but ever present. Judas wanted to WIN at all costs. Judas had a destiny in mind for himself. He was tired of 'taking it' from the Man (Rome) and wanted to turn the tables on his oppressors. He wanted it all.... and he wanted it RIGHT NOW. He admired Jesus the revolutionary, but was deeply concerned about his heart for the poor and the broken. It would cost too much to care for all the destitute.  Judas wanted to make sure he 'got his share' and finally grew sick of all the talk of a cross. If Jesus wasn't going to get aggressive with his agenda perhaps he could sell out and at least get something from all his 'devotion' and effort on Jesus behalf.

  30 pieces of silver later, Judas woke up and realized that money would not satisfy him. He threw the blood money away but alas fell backwards in failure. He fell on top of the lie that he could not be restored to Jesus. He forgot that the cross was meant for even the worst sinners.... those who would ultimately deny and betray him.  Judas like all of us failed miserably at a crucial point in his life but unlike Peter, Judas fell backwards upon himself instead of in the direction of grace, mercy and forgiveness....forward facing Jesus.

  Have you failed?  All of us will at one point or another in life will fail miserably. Perhaps right now you have deep regrets because of broken relationships.  I urge you to fall forward into the embrace of a God who won't just forgive you... he will restore, use you and ultimately fulfill his purpose for your life.... don't give up. Let his love cover your broken places.  He's calling you back to himself...back to relationship....back to your destiny.  Don't give up, fail forward.

Jim

Running the Right Pace for Life

  For the last several months I have been preparing and planning to run the First Light Half Marathon in Mobile. When I found out I had a melanoma tumor in my eye needing surgery, I had to cut back my running and adjust my plans. At first I thought I might not run at all. Jeri Stroade, my All Nations Community Church teammate, suggested that I consider 'pacing' her for the second half of the race. Since our church had volunteered to serve at a water stop at the 7.2 mile marker it made it easy for me to consider jumping into the race at that point.

  Jeri had never run a half marathon before. She had been training with my son Joshua and our mutual friend Carrie Tucker. Running 13.1 miles is hard work! Knowing how to run the right pace is very difficult. Running, like life, demands we make critical decisions regarding how 'fast' we run and how we balance the demands put upon us by our responsibilities. Life is more like a marathon than a sprint and we need to make good decisions about how we 'run our race'.

  In order for me to really be of help in Jeri's half marathon I needed to really listen to her. What was the pace that Jeri wanted to run? How did Jeri want me to encourage her? We all receive and understand encouragement differently. Jeri was very clear and comfortable in telling me how to encourage her. I ran the last half of the marathon beside Jeri listening and watching her carefully for what she needed. Our strides matched almost perfectly. We were marching toward her goal pace with every step and at times I had to restrain myself from trying to run a different pace. To really help someone we often have to let go of our own goals and comfort zone. To march in step.... in unity with others... means leaving behind my own personal agendas, goals and priorities.

  I was amazed at how much easier it felt to run in step with Jeri during the race. There seemed to be a synergy as we communicated and ran the race together. In other half marathons I have run, I remember  feeling disconnected and mentally discouraged. There was an amazing strength having someone right beside me on the journey to the finish line.  You don't have to be running a half marathon to realize the powerful truth of the need for partnership in life. Whatever aspect of life you are challenged by, we all need others to 'run the race' with us to really make a difference in our world. The temptation to run too fast or quit before the finish line faces us all in our dangerous and challenging world. Who are you running the race of life with?  Every significant and meaningful achievement in life is born of significant and committed relationships and partnerships. Don't try to run your race alone. Search for people who would love you enough to help you find the pace you can handle. The synergy born of teamwork is found in a commitment to selflessness and the learned skill of listening and hearing those we 'run with' in life.

  Are you running the right pace for your life? We discover the answers to those questions in communities of love and faith. We need one another. If you haven't found your community yet, I encourage you to talk to God about it. You were born for love. You were born for relationship. Don't run the race of life alone!

Jim
  

Finding Satisfaction in Relationships

   

  To be loved for who you are is the most essential human need. The development and growth of intimacy in our relationships demands maturity and selflessness. It's difficult to find deeply satisfying relationships, but easy to have shallow and frustrating 'friendships'.

 Due to our own insecurities and fears we often resort to ineffective and fatal behaviors in our relationships. Perhaps one of the most fatal of all is the manifestation of a controlling spirit. True love inspires, enables and empowers freedom of choice. All true love is rooted and grounded around the ability to move forward and maintain the relationship based on freedom and trust.

When we try to take control of another persons choices in relationship, we ensure the death of any possibility of true intimacy. A spirit of control closes the human spirit and damages the soul. We were not born to be 'controlled' and manipulated....we were born for real love.

The worst form of counterfeit love and intimacy is rooted in a horrific mutation of love known as narcissism.... the pathologic love of self. The narcissist doesn't love the other... he or she seeks to smother...to suffocate....to shape the other into whatever brings the ego the greatest pleasure of the moment. The root cause of a controlling spirit is the worship of self. The controller must be satisfied above all else...above all others. The partner of a controller is a slave of whatever they want: sex, attention, adulation, conversation, money or someone to hurt deeply.

The tragic end of someone dominated by a controlling spirit is the destruction of all their relationships and ultimately themselves. When we don't allow others to be free to love or reject us.... to set up boundaries in relationships based on trust... to that extent we enslave ourselves to faux relationships based on lies and deception.

The more we attempt to squeeze others to conform to what we want....the more we dishonor them. People are made in the image of their creator who describes himself for us with three simple words, "God is love". God's image in us is honored and respected when we allow others to choose in relationship. God's great love doesn't demand a response....it wins a response through proving his love. You can't love someone you don't trust. You can't be intimate with someone who seeks to use you for his or her own selfish desires.

Intimacy demands freedom. Do you seek for deeply satisfying relationships? Begin today to set others free in your life. Stop demanding what you want and start giving who you really are... no strings .... no chains. Real love is both a choice and a gift. You can't demand it...but you can give it and receive it from a God who is true love personified.

Don't Quit!

  Ever feel like quitting? Every significant commitment to succeed in life will at one point or another face the temptation to quit before achieving it's goal. As I look back on my life I can specifically recall moments where part of me wanted to give up and another part of me wanted to hold on.

  When I was 14 years old I joined the outdoor track team as a freshman. My father and uncle were both very good runners in school and they had taken me to track meets since my early childhood. I knew I wanted to run but I had no idea how much training and pain were involved! A day or two into the season my legs hurt so badly that I could not walk down the stairwell in our home. I had to go down the steps backward to lessen the excruciating pain in my calf muscles. As I went out the door on my way to school I informed my dad that I would quit the track team that day. My dad had a very serious look on his face as he gave me this advice, "If you quit now you might regret it the rest of your life. The pain is temporary. Hang in there and you'll make it through." The pain spoke very loudly but my father's words rang true. I didn't quit and went on to run all 4 years of high school and developed a life long love of running that continues to this day. What if I would have quit?

  When I was 17 years old and fresh out of high school I signed up to join the United States Air- force. At several points during my 4 year commitment I wanted to quit. But the Air-force doesn't just let you quit. I learned through the discipline of the military a lot more about commitment and working through very hard times. After 3 years in the Air-force, I surrendered my life to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What if I had tried to quit the military before that time? I would have lost the opportunity to experience the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ meeting all my needs during some very dark days.

  When I was 34 years of age I was living in Taxila, Pakistan seeking to gain 'hands on' experience working at an eye hospital. Prior to opening the eye hospital in Gilgit, we needed experience and advice from people in Taxila who had been operating their eye hospital for decades. Our experience turned out to be less than ideal and we were not treated well by some of the staff there in Taxila.  During one long dark night of doubt I had tossed and turned unable to sleep. I woke up Mary in the middle of the night and told her I thought we should quit in our efforts to continue to establish the hospital. Mary challenged me to really pray and surrender to God. I needed to face my doubts and surrender afresh to God's strength. I needed to hold onto faith and not surrender to fear and doubt. Over time I have continued to have to face down the overwhelming desire to quit many times and in many places in life.

  What are some keys to overcoming this spirit of quit?  First we need to recognize that as human beings our soul is prone to both emotional highs and lows. There are times when we feel like we can do anything and often at the beginning of a major challenge we are 'high as a kite'. But those times of emotional exuberance and excitement do not last forever.  There are also times when we feel like we can do nothing! The key in dealing with our emotions is to recognize them but not necessarily surrender to them.  There are many reasons why our emotions swing so much.... some of them are physical (lack of sleep, poor health, mental illness etc...) We should not ignore how we feel. We need to own our emotions but not be enslaved by them.

  When we are feeling overwhelmed by our commitments we need to recognize that God calls us to himself in relationship as a way to share our burdens with him. Jesus said this, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28) When you surrender your commitments to God in prayer, you enable a supernatural strength to be activated in your life. The temptation to quit doesn't evaporate but there is a new found internal strength available to those who simply ask for it in faith.

  Along with the unique important empowerment of strength we can receive from God, there is also tremendous help available from people who love us and are called to help us in life. We need help in the journey of life from others who can help us refute the temptation to quit before we achieve our destiny.
  Hebrews chapter 12 offers us some sage advice about the importance of faith and endurance in achievement. In verse 1 we read, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

  Our modern society is shaped by the message that more is better and now is the time. The concept of waiting for fulfillment and enduring suffering to yield a higher call is not something we are comfortable with. We want it all and we want it now! However, the culture of the kingdom of God calls for the surrender of the temporary to obtain the forever. If we are to overcome the spirit of quit we must recognize that the truly valuable things in life are never truly easily obtained. The next time you face the temptation to quit think hard and long before doing so. You might miss what you really want in the temptation to escape temporary pain. Before we arrive at our God ordained destiny you can be assured you must overcome the temptation to quit. You need God's help. You need the help of committed friends. You need to understand that pain and discomfort are part of the cost of getting to where you really want to go.  Count the cost and move in the direction of your destiny! Don't quit.

Jim

Pray it Anyway

  Had an encouraging time of prayer with the Liberty Church family in Pensacola last night (www.libertychurch.net). We spent about an hour praying about various aspects of our lives. Before we began to pray Pastor Buford Lipscomb encouraged us from Daniel chapter 10 to persist in prayer even when it seems like nothing is happening. To talk to God about our problems takes faith. We can't see God .... and often we feel as if we're not being heard. The reality of our human condition is we often pray with more sincerity and fervency when we are in crisis. And when we are in crisis we would prefer our requests be handled on a 'priority' basis. But God's sense of timing is not necessarily ours. There are many factors that have to come into play for us to get our prayers answered.

 Daniel was a prophet of God.  Daniel had every reason to expect that God would hear him and take his prayers seriously. But there is an unseen realm of spiritual reality that impacts our prayers. God is not deaf and he's not too busy to attend to your deepest heart needs. Listen in to an amazing vision and angelic encounter that Daniel had in response to his prayers and fasting.
  "I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves.  So I was left alone and saw the great vision, and no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground.

And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, "O Daniel,  man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, "Fear not, Daniel for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days."

 Daniel was seeking answers from God about what was happening in his world... and what was going to happen to the people he was called to serve and love. God heard Daniel.... from the first day he prayed, God began the process of answering...but there was a delay. There is a spiritual battle going on in our world and our faith needs both endurance and patience to gain the victory in this life. The things that you pray about aren't always answered in the way that you desire... and when you desire them, but God hears your words..... he hears your heart and is at work doing what is best for you and for the world that you live in.

 Are you frustrated and discouraged? Have you stopped praying?  Have you stopped hoping? Be assured that God hears you.... that he loves you and that he will do the right thing in response to your crying out to him.  That prayer you've almost given up on saying..... pray it anyway. And watch God do the right thing, at the right time, for you and those you love.

Jim
  

Preparing for the Tests of Life

  Have you ever had the feeling that something very difficult was coming your way? There is this unusual sense of anxiety and uncertainty that is pressing in on your soul. You don't know what it is.... you can't say for sure what is happening but you just know you are about to be tested in a very deep and profound way.

  Is there a way we can be prepared for the trials, tragedies and temptations of real life?  I live next door to the University of South Alabama. The students who excel live disciplined lives of study and activity based on their desire to succeed. They find the balance between work, relationships and academics. Put simply, they are prepared.  However, the tests of the 'real world' are often less obvious and don't always come with warning signs like "Warning! Major Test ahead, GET READY!" Most of our warning systems are internal and too easy for the faithless soul to ignore or downplay as insignificant.

  In the gospel of Luke chapter 22 we have amazing insight from Jesus of how to prepare for life's greatest trials and difficulties. Jesus had developed the discipline of prayer. He took time to open up to the Father about what was going on in his mind and heart. Let's take a look at the 'heart preparation' that takes place in communion with God.  (Luke 22:39.....) "And he came out and went, as was his custom to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.  And when he came to the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."  And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.  Nevertheless,  not my will, but yours, be done."  And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.  And being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

  Jesus was about to face the gravest test of his earthly life. Within minutes he would face the test of betrayal of one of his closest friends. Shortly thereafter he would face the test of rejection and abandonment of another of his closest friends. Inside of his soul everything was screaming to quit.... to abandon his life's purpose. Any resemblance of inner strength was literally draining out of his body. He had no recourse other than to connect with his Father in heaven in prayer.  God was near and answered in a miraculous way.... sending an angel to deliver special strength to endure the trial of body, soul and spirit.  His example is our guide to how we too must endure life's battles.

  Sadly, those closest to Jesus ( us included) often miss the call to prayerful dependence on our Father. As Jesus ended his prayer, we see the disciples failure, "And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, "Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

  I don't know about you, but I've been there......overcome by worry, fear, sadness and depression. I just want to sleep.... turn out the lights and pretend that what I'm facing will just go away.  Trials don't disappear because we want them to. Trials often linger and haunt us....unless and until we get down on our knees and into the place of surrendered prayer to a God who loves us enough to hear our sincere and honest conversation.... "the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results."

  You are either in a trial, headed towards one, or just coming out of one. The wise person prepares for the tests of life.... and draws near in prayer to a God whose presence is more than enough to take us through and bring us to a place of deep love, hope and trust in him.  Are you prepared?

Jim