Posts in the category: ‘Reflections’
Healing by Confession
I am discovering a powerful secret to living with a free, healthy heart: the confession of sin to another trustworthy believer. “Telling on myself” is not easy. It’s humbling. It crushes the hard shell of pride that I like to hide behind. But I am learning that through confession, God gives a healing balm for the soul by pouring His love and light into its chamber of dark secrets.
It’s different than confessing sin to God. When we confess our sins to God and turn from those sins, 1 John 1:9 promises that we are forgiven. God removes the death punishment we deserved when we confess our sins to Him. But we all know it’s possible to be forgiven yet continue to struggle intensely against going back to the same sin. James 5:16 shows profound insight into how the soul is actually healed: “Confess your sins to one another . . . that you may be healed.” How do we walk out the forgiveness that Christ gives us so that we are made whole in a functional way? We need to confess our sins to another trusted believer.
Perhaps the biggest hindrance to confessing our sins to one another is shame. Shame is like a dreadful grip around the neck that paralyzes us from reaching out to take hold of the healing that could be ours. Poisoned imaginations usually accompany shame. What will they think of me? Will I be rejected or held at a distance? Will they ever trust me again? Such thoughts keep us stuck in a prison of dark secrecy that feeds the urge for fast relief . . . so we sin more.
Confession to a brother or sister breaks the reproductive power of the secrecy of our sins. Secrecy fuels the fires of temptation and of sinful acts. As long as no one knows, we are empowered to continue. Confession to a brother is like pouring water—life-giving water—on that hellish fire.
I’ve lived in such enflamed prisons of the soul. But the healing I’ve experienced as I’ve faced shame and walked out into the light is worth it—very worth it!
In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer says this:
Why is it that it is often easier to confess our sins to God than to a brother? God is holy and sinless. He is a just judge of evil and the enemy of all disobedience. But a brother is sinful as we are . . . We must ask ourselves if we have not often been deceiving ourselves . . . confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution? Self-forgiveness can never lead to a breach with sin; this can be accomplished only by the judging and pardoning Word of God itself . . . [Confession of sin to] our brother breaks the circle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person . . . Since the sin must come to light some time, it is better that it happens today between me and my brother, rather than on the last day in the piercing light of the final judgment. It is a mercy that we can confess our sins to a brother. Such grace spares us the terrors of the last judgment (p. 115–16).
When I bring my sin into the light, I begin to see the cross of Christ as essential to my life. No man can have complete, heart-felt gratitude for the cross unless he sees the depths of the wickedness of his own heart. Thus, “anyone who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother. Looking at the cross of Jesus, he knows the human heart” (Life Together, p. 118).
Bonhoeffer calls this posture of heart “living beneath the cross”:
Only the brother under the cross can hear confession. It is not experience of life but experience of the cross that makes one a worthy hearer of confessions. The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the cross of Christ . . . It is not lack of psychological knowledge but lack of love for the crucified Jesus Christ that makes us so poor and inefficient in brotherly confession (p. 118–19).
When we confess our sins to a brother or sister who lives under the cross, we experience part of what it means to be a priesthood of believers. We pronounce forgiveness to each other, proclaim that our sins are sent into the cross, and we glory in the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement. Here we touch the joy of true friendship with others and with God (1 Jn. 1:7)
Oh, the joy of friendship when our only boast is Christ crucified! In the age to come, we will look upon each other with such smiling, open hearts. We will all know we have nothing to boast in except the cross, and the sweet aroma of grateful love will be the fragrance that fills the company of the saints. Forever.
Why not start living like this now?
The Danger of Unbound Beauty
“Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength…Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Psalm 29:1–2
There’s a common saying that is disastrous when taken seriously and even heretical when taken spiritually. Maybe you’ve heard it: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Sounds humble enough, doesn’t it? It’s the idea that each of us finds beauty in different things or experiences in a different way from the person next to us; that if we tried to define beauty we would rob one another of human enjoyment by applying narrow and artificial parameters. But the subtle buy-in of this statement is that beauty is not something “out there,” beyond our own finite consciousness, but is something “in-here,” a human-centered value and invention. Taken to its limit, this little platitude means that none of us can say for certain whether or not something is good or whole or valuable. It means we must accept, with however painful an acquiescence, that it is perfectly normal for someone else to be repulsed by the very thing that enthralls us, be it a concerto, a sunset, or God Himself. It means we must make our peace with radically differing preferences, as if it were completely natural for some of us to prefer total darkness, while others of us prefer light. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then it is nowhere.
The deepest mystery of what it means to be a human created in the image of God is explained by the eye. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body” (Mt. 6:22), and he would know. After all, He designed humans to be enraptured by splendor, to gaze and go on gazing insatiably on beauty. So if we insist that beauty cannot be defined, or geo-located, then we are in trouble; we have lost our bearings in the search for our deepest significance.
And “lost” aptly describes a culture such as ours that exults in visions of terror and immorality. Take the pornography industry for instance—over 11,000 new pornographic films are released every year (about twenty times the mainstream movie output). Two and a half billion pornographic emails flit through the interwebs every day, and “sex” is the leading search term entered into our web browsers. What’s worse, there is a strong correlation between purchases of pornographic magazines and recorded rapes, but that may not come as a great surprise when you consider that most mainstream pornography is extremely violent. It’s not hard to see how these trends could lead to much larger and pernicious trends such as human trafficking. There is nothing remotely beautiful about any of this. The “beholders” have gone astray and, as a result, beauty and justice lie fallen in the streets.
What the pornography industry demonstrates is that when our perspective of beauty is separated from the Creator of beauty, soon after, it demands that we give expression to every vain and worthless thought that pops into our heads. The generation of Noah knew this well and they tumbled into a global culture so depraved that God pronounced “every intent and the thoughts of [man’s] heart . . . evil continually” (Gen. 5:5), just before He washed them all away.
As we survey the landscape of our planet and see daunting social justice issues such as human trafficking, what can we infer except that the minds of millions of wicked men have dreamed up monstrous evils and are now acting out their vision? The crimes committed across the globe were first dreamed up by people in the privacy of their mind’s eye.
As our eyes have wandered in search of truth and beauty, the answer has been staring us in the face. Acclaimed Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, when cornered with the question of relative beauty, answered this way: “Beauty is an extraordinary gift given to us, but it is not given in a vacuum. Scripture says worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. It must be bounded by the very person and character of God.” Unbound beauty is to blame for a thousand ills. But put in its proper place—to, from, and through a holy God—beauty becomes the magnet that pulls us into our destiny. This is in part what the psalmist meant in Psalm 29, when he wrote: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and majesty.” Credit God as the author of beauty, and you will be drawn into consummate beauty, God himself.
The most private issues of personal sanctity to the most grandiose social justice agendas begin with a reformation of the eyes of our heart. If we don’t embrace the clear understanding that we are not the reference point of reality and wholeness, we will miss the critical point: God is our reference point. When we choose to gaze on His beauty, we find our innermost desires satisfied and a plan for humanity birthed in the mind’s eye of a holy God, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.
Author
Bret Mavrich is the Director of Abolition at Exodus Cry, the IHOP–KC department formed to address human trafficking. Exodus Cry is developing a feature-length documentary called Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, unveiling the roots of immorality fueling human trafficking and the global sex trade.
Your Eye Is on Me
Do you know that God is watching you? Do you know it in your heart of hearts? You may have understanding of the concept, but do you dwell in the penetrating light of this truth? If we understand this in even a measured way, if we grasp just a little bit of it, then nothing can hinder our lives in God. Being an overcomer is much more than stubborn drudgery and refusing to quit. Granted, perseverance is half the battle, but in order to overcome, there must be an unshakable inner disposition, an anchor for our souls.
If it is true that God’s eye is on me, then nothing else matters. I may have bouts of weakness in my flesh, but if I know that He is intentionally giving His attention to me, then my resolve will be strengthened, and freedom becomes attainable. We all face the diverse trials and struggles of life. These trials exist to purify and prove the worth of our devotion to Jesus in the same way that struggles in a marriage prove our devotion to our spouse, and refine that devotion into selfless, sacrificial love.
In this day, people fickly quit at the first signs of hardship, without ever experiencing the joy of overcoming the cruel tyrant of despair. One day there will be no more pain and no more sorrow. The implication is that there will be no more trials to prove or refine our love. Do you realize that you have the opportunity to love Jesus today, in the midst of confusion, pain, and struggle, to show Him how you feel about Him? It’s the one gift that only you can give to Him. No one else can love Him like you can, because no one else is facing your exact circumstances.
We can actually encounter the manifest goodness of God through our struggles. Not that the trials are easy to engage with and overcome; we still feel pain and loss and heartache. But when we draw strength from the conviction that God sees and knows our pain, we become more willing to press on for the sake of knowing and gaining Christ.
If you find yourself facing difficulties today, take heart. Nothing you do is in vain when it is done in the light of His countenance. Look at us today, O God, and let us know You are looking, for then we can overcome anything.
Dwell
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. (Ps. 111:2)
One need not go far to study the works of the Lord. His majestic works are displayed all around us; in the heavens, the earth, and the oceans. But the greatest miracles to behold are those that He has wrought in us! What God will do in a human heart testifies of His goodness and mercy. I need to constantly remind myself of all that He has done within me. I may study the works of His fingers in creation, I may look into the heavens and wonder at His power, I may watch the moon and the stars and be amazed by His beauty, but the greatest miracle is when God touches the human heart and draws it in love to Jesus.
I study the faithfulness of God in my life because it reminds me that I am in His thoughts day and night. If I ever forget what He has done in my life, then my perspective and vision are off. If I don’t remember what God has done in me, I can easily forget the hope of my calling. The temptation is to focus on my present circumstances instead of God’s promises. The testimonies we have need to be held in awestruck remembrance and unending gratitude. My focus needs to be on what has been promised, and my faith rooted in what God has done.
Fuel for the Prayer Movement
What could possess someone to the degree that they would willingly and gladly lay down their life? The answer: something greater than the world has to offer. No one, no matter how noble or selfless, would voluntarily lay down his or her life for something mediocre. There must be an internal resolution that is not based on external circumstances, and a knowledge of the reality of the invisible world. Jesus Christ was such a one, as were His disciples. The apostle Paul was a man possessed. He was not himself.
These considerations motivate the Church towards prayer. God’s ordained way from death to life and weakness to strength involves, among other elements of faith, the simplicity of asking (2 Chr. 7:14; Lk. 18:7-8; Mt. 7:7-8). Why does prayer exist on the earth today? Why is there a symphony of prayer growing louder in the nations? The answer: something greater is coming . . . and it is not mediocre!
The chief concern of the prayer movement is to hasten the coming Day of the Lord (2 Pet. 3:12). When He comes, righteousness will be restored, wickedness will be expelled, life will abound, death will be no more, crying and anguish shall cease, truth will roll like rivers of water, and all nations shall walk in the light of the glory of God. Beloved intercessors, it is not a light thing we do. Every prayer in agreement with the promises of God will effect a change for eternity. Take courage, you watchmen! The day is coming when you shall walk by sight, and all longing for restoration will be fulfilled by a glorified home called the New Jerusalem, the Paradise of God.
When the Jewish captives were released from Babylon in 536 B.C., they returned to Jerusalem after seventy years to rebuild the temple of the Lord. Many of the 50,000 Jews who returned lost heart at the burden of the labor before them. But the Lord established two messengers, Haggai and Zechariah, to prophesy encouragement, and the people “prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah” (Ezra 6:14). Those who labored found hope again from the words of these men. These prophets of the Old Testament were similar to the apostles of the New Testament. They were gripped with an understanding of the age to come, knowing that all things are made right under Messiah’s dominion. By the Spirit of the Lord, these prophets understood that there is continuity between the labors of the present age and those of the age to come.
Are you weary in doing well? Look at the words of these prophets; take heart. Your labors are not in vain. What you are doing now has an eternal effect on history, even in the Millennium. Partnering with God’s purposes through prayer and intercession will release something that all creation now groans for—the restoration of all things (Rom. 8:18–23). One of the primary weapons that the enemy uses against us is the lie that what we are doing is insignificant or ineffective. We must resist the lie that would persuade us to give up. The weakness of our efforts is not a hindrance to the Lord but the primary way that His glory is displayed in and through us! We long for the day of Christ’s appearing and we labor to hasten that day when all will be made right. The hope of our calling is that the Lord will fully answer every cry for justice (Luke 18:7–8).
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” (Rev. 21:3–7)
Our Place of Authority
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ . . . In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ . . . in [whom] we have redemption through his blood . . . (Eph. 1:3–7, NIV)
Wouldn’t you think the Bible would say, “God will someday bless us with every spiritual blessing” once we reach a certain level of spiritual maturity or once we have resurrected bodies? But God says He has already given us every spiritual blessing in Christ. “He has blessed us.” It is past tense. Believe it. This verse is as true for the one who was born again in Christ two days ago as it is for the one who has been walking faithfully with the Lord for fifty years.
In Ephesians 1:3–14, Paul describes our spiritual inheritance in God. Before He made the world, the Father saw us and chose us in Christ. We were loved and desired as sons and daughters before He hung the stars in place. Christ paid for us to stand faultless before the Father when He poured out His lifeblood for us. Upon believing this, we received the Holy Spirit—God living on the inside, think of it—who continually bears witness to the day when we will be glorified in God’s presence as coheirs with Christ.
“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6, NIV). I don’t claim to know the fullness of what it means to be blessed “in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), but I am quite sure of this: it’s a lot more than we currently realize and live out! It’s as though we’ve been given a billion dollars, but we’re living on ten cents a day. We tend to approach God as beggars, while He sees us as beloved kings (Rev. 1:5–6)! We often live in a mindset that God will someday exercise His authority to heal or deliver us, when we could walk in His authority today! Both are certainly true—the kingdom of God is now (in part) and not yet (in fullness)—but I think we’d be surprised at how much He’s waiting for us take the authority He has given us.
Although I don’t believe we can necessarily “name and claim” the fullness of the effects of God’s kingdom now (for example, we are not immune from suffering, disease, or death until the resurrection), we should always be reaching! We should be always seeking and praying for it to be “on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt. 6:10, NIV). Do we always pray for healing? Good, but there’s more. God yearns for us to arise in partnership with Him.
I like the gospels’ account of Jesus multiplying food for a hungry multitude (Mt. 14:13–21; Mk. 6:30–44; Lk. 9:10–17). The disciples told Jesus to send the thousands away to go find something to eat. He replied, “You give them something to eat.” It’s humorous because He fully knew their faith wasn’t there yet. He put their calling right before them nonetheless, as if to say, “You’re not called to just watch me do all the miracles; I actually want you to do them with me!” Similarly, He didn’t say, “You shall ask me to move the mountain, and I will do it,” but, “You can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move” (Mt. 17:20, NIV). And, “In my name they will drive out demons” (Mk. 16:17, NIV), not “They will ask me to cast out demons.” Of course, asking is part of the partnership between Jesus and His people (Mt. 7:7), but it’s not the only part. Sometimes He waits for us to act upon His Word and take the authority He has given us.
So, I have been “practicing” taking that authority because I believe that authority over darkness doesn’t grow out of nowhere. Admittedly, it feels a little awkward at first. Sometimes, for example, when I verbally take authority over sickness in my child’s body and command the body to be healed in Jesus’ name, I feel as though I’m a little bird trying to bark at a dog. But such an inward image just reveals my little faith. A more accurate picture might be of a little bird that has a mighty lion standing behind it, and when the bird speaks in the lion’s name, the lion’s roar puts that scrawny canine to flight! The more I step out, the more my faith grows. God is patient, and, frankly, I think He’s just excited when we start trying to walk in His authority—like the joy my husband and I felt when our babies first started to walk. We saw their courage! They fell a lot as they stepped out on muscles that had hardly been used. But they kept getting up and stepping out, and we celebrated them all along the way. It takes time, and regular use, to build muscles. God knows this. He is rejoicing over us as we grow.
A word of warning: walking in power is no license for sin. And it doesn’t replace intimacy with God. Spiritual authority is supposed to flow out of relationship with God; it is not a thing given to exalt its bearer but to equip him to serve and go low for others’ sake. It’s possible to spend your life doing works that add up to nothing when you stand before Christ, because they didn’t flow from relationship with Him (1 Cor. 3:11–15). It’s even possible for someone to perform miracles in Jesus’ name but be so spiritually hollow on the inside that Christ will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness” (Mt. 7:21–23, NKJV). But this will not happen if our focus is walking with God.
As for me, I am not letting another year of my life go by without learning more about Ephesians 1:3 and “every spiritual blessing in Christ.” I want to walk in His authority, not just so that my comfort level increases, but so that He finds in me a heart that believes His words and impacts others with His presence. May He find us as ones who believe what He said: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn. 14:12, NKJV).
Oh, may the eyes of our hearts be enlightened to know what is the greatness of His power towards us who believe (Eph. 1:18–19)!
Fulfilling Your Desire for Greatness
I’m convinced that everyone possesses a God-given longing for greatness. As believers, we may think this longing is from some dark place in our souls, or from the Devil. Perhaps we have tried repeatedly to repent of it. But when two disciples asked Jesus for a position of greatness in His Father’s kingdom, He didn’t rebuke them for their desire. He did shock them with how to fulfill it. “Whoever wishes to be great…must be the servant” (Mt. 20:26-28). Our longing for greatness is not wicked, but our self-exalting attempts to satisfy it are!
How do we gain power on the inside to walk the path of greatness that Jesus sets before us? Where do we get the motivation to serve without resentment, without regard for recognition?
Here’s what we find in other scriptures: When we know our dearness to God and His promise to one day openly reward every choice for humility and servanthood in Him, we are empowered to go low and serve. Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, fully aware of His own greatness (Jn. 13:3). Reclining at the table, He knew that He had power over all things; how one day all would bow before Him; how He would soon ascend to sit at the right hand of the Father. And it was with this knowledge that He rose from the table and went to the lowest place. Without resentment, He bowed down to wash the dirtiest part of the very ones who were about to abandon Him—even deny Him—in His darkest hour.
In Colossians 3:1-14, Paul reveals the same movement of the heart. I would amplify it like this:
You’ve been raised and seated with Christ on the most powerful throne in the entire universe. Fill your thoughts with this. You’re going to be glorified with Christ when He appears. The Father will openly reward every hidden act of love. In the twinkling of an eye, your body will be changed to display the measure of glory you cultivated during your earthly life. So put an end to the cravings of your old nature: sexual immorality, greed, and grasping after worldly things to satisfy your eternal longings. Completely turn your back upon anger, slander, and unclean speech. For, remember, you have taken off your old self, and have put on your new self, which is growing in glory as we grow in Christ. Therefore, as ones appointed for greatness, who are set apart for God and deeply loved by Him, clothe yourselves with tenderness and humility… and above all, put on love.
Paul told the Corinthians that they were acting like “mere men” by their envious factions (1 Cor. 3:1-3). His implication is that if they knew their greatness, they wouldn’t have to squabble anymore over who belonged to whom. A thief wouldn’t need to steal anymore if he knew he were already rich with inheritance.
So, why do we grasp for men’s approval when the King of the ages is lovingly watching us? Why do we care if our good deeds go unnoticed by people when we have a Father who sees in secret and is committed to rewarding us? Oh, when I know it deep in my heart, I will gladly serve (in prayer and in deed) those who might never know or thank me.
Now, God doesn’t tell us that we have to feel kind and humble. He says to put on kindness and humility. And as we make the choice to cultivate our natures to be like His, He’ll meet us; and He’ll change our emotions in time.
Lest we romanticize greatness so much that we fail to cultivate it, let us say it again: greatness is forged by choices for love and righteousness, whether we feel virtuous in the moment or not.
In Matthew 5:19, Jesus said that the one who follows His teachings —namely the teaching He was giving in the Sermon on the Mount—and teaches others to do the same will be great in the kingdom of heaven. When we are faithful to be a servant to the Word, regardless of the persecution or disapproval it brings from others, we are at once serving God and others. We have become the servant of all.
Father, I set my heart again today to put on Christ’s character. And if, in the moment, I don’t feel His character within me, that’s OK. I’m going to put it on anyway. Thank You that You will transform my emotions in the process, and You will one day openly reward each choice for love and holiness.
A New Look at Our Looks
“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). Mankind tends to put considerable emphasis on outward appearance. Many children grow up believing their worth is defined by how they look. Adults are tempted to make divers assumptions about others based on physical attractiveness. We think we know how fun, how smart, or how wealthy people are by what our eyes see. How misleading is our human evaluation! Through it we have not recognized the Lord of glory.
Jesus Christ, the Everlasting God, took on flesh and accepted an unattractive frame. Can you believe it? It almost sounds like heresy to say the God-man was unattractive. But Isaiah says it clearly: “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa. 53:2, emphasis mine). He had no special appearance that we should love Him on this basis.
People are ever grasping after a more stunning physical show—in our day there are all sorts of surgeries to change undesirable traits—and here is the Christ, the One most worthy of a stunning image, and He chose a plain one. He who is destined to be the Desire of All Nations was born in an animal stable. He is more awesome than all the sons of men, yet He came to us with a physical appearance that did not attract people. When He reigns from Jerusalem, all peoples of the earth will stream there to learn from Him; but when He first came, He was despised and rejected.
One day, Christ will be the most sought-after and desirable Man in all heaven and earth. How we will crave His presence. We will love to hear Him speak and laugh and sing. Oh, the glory of His person! We will be so drawn to Him. For all the ages to come, we will be fascinated by His beauty! His joy, humility, wisdom, tenderness, and power will ignite yearning for Him again and again. But back to His first coming—He did not choose a stunning frame to attract crowds. He wanted His influence to come from the inside out.
When Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me . . . ‘I have come to do your will, O God’” (Heb. 10:5–7, emphasis mine). It may be more accurate to say that the Father chose a simple frame for Jesus, and Jesus accepted it. He fully entered into the physical weakness of human experience (Phil. 2:6–8). He knows what it’s like to cultivate grateful love with what we’ve been given, to receive the invitation to grow in inward glory. We struggle against bitterness over what the Father hasn’t granted; He rejoiced in what the Father gave Him (Ps. 40:8; 16:5–6).
The Lord is calling us to repent of internalizing man’s fallen definitions of worth. He wants us to agree with Him that His creation of us is good. He planned us with great thoughtfulness (Ps. 139). He designed how all aspects of our person—appearance, personality, gift mix, and more—would blend together. And He loves how He made us. Oh, we should not hate what He so deeply loves!
I think the deceiver assigns demons to linger at mirrors, waiting to breathe foul lies upon us when we awaken in the morning and prepare for the day. He sows thoughts of rejection of the “raw material” God has given us to work with, which leads to comparison, envy, and self-hatred. All the while, our heavenly Father would tell us there is stunning uniqueness in what we see as ordinary. Even through our lowly traits, He is inviting us to grow in glory on the inside—“the incorruptible beauty” of a yielded heart “which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Pet. 3:4). God wants us to renew our minds according to what He thinks about us, rather than being conformed to the world’s evaluation of worth (Rom. 12:1–2).
What would happen if we took a minute to confess—to say out loud—Psalm 139:13–14 before we got out of bed to look in that mirror? Perhaps it would transform the way we see ourselves and others. Perhaps a new culture (one of life and joy!) would be created within us that is more powerful than the culture of despair outside of us. Perhaps it would transform us day by day.
O Lord, give us a new look at how You have made us.
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Ps. 139:13–14).
God’s Definition of Success
What is God’s definition of success for His people in this life? How does He define greatness? It’s simple, but it upsets our worldly paradigm. “Whoever wishes to be great . . . must be the servant . . . just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:26–28, emphasis added).
God’s definition of success is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ—that our nature be increasingly changed to be like His (Rom. 8:29). There’s a purpose in the mind of the Potter; there is joy in the heart of our Maker as He fashions our hearts like the clay. Will we let Him mold and bend us? Or will we stiffen and harden under the pressures He allows? Do we recognize the invitation that lies in every moment of suffering and in every blessing? To be conformed. Or is our goal merely momentary satisfaction?
I believe the primary thing God has in mind when He works to conform us into Christ’s image is meekness. Love. Humility. These are all essentially the same quality—the willingness to go low; to use my strength to serve rather than to enslave; to entrust my soul to the Father rather than grasp for its so-called rights. Jesus possesses many attributes, but the heart qualities He attributed to Himself are meekness and lowliness. “For I am meek and lowly of heart” (Mt. 11:29).
In 1 Corinthians 3:11–15, Paul gives a stunning picture of what will happen when believers stand before Christ:
“Now if any man builds upon the foundation [of Christ Jesus] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire” (emphasis added).
All of our life’s investments—our attitudes, actions, words, choices—will be revealed as worthless or valuable. We do not carry possessions into the next age. But we do carry reward into it—or the lack thereof.
What endures into the age to come? Is it not a humble love (1 Cor. 13)? You could say that at the end of our lives the question will be: did you learn to love? Not, how big was your ministry? Or, how many people did you please? Now, there is nothing insubstantial about this word that sums up all the Law and the Prophets. Love is all-consuming and demands flesh and blood expression to its claims. Just as Christ’s love for His Father and for us led to His poured-out life, so will love lead us.
On the one hand, this is weighty, because we spend so much energy building a glittering image, while God works in us to produce a lowly heart. On the other hand, I find it incredibly freeing. You mean everything counts with You, God? What amazing news. Doing dishes counts. Serving someone who has no ability to return the favor counts. Honoring my spouse’s desires when I want to do my own thing counts. Fasting a meal in secret counts. Praying for someone who has wounded me counts. Choosing righteousness when I am tempted with sin counts. If it lines up with God’s Word and it’s done in love, it counts as success in God. We have a Father who sees in secret, who will one day openly reward us (Mt. 6:1–18).
This truth can transform each day. Music in the mundane—each moment can be a love-song unto God. Especially when no one is looking. Yes, I would dare to say that the sweetest sounds of this song come forth when no accolades of man accompany them. O Father, give us revelation of Your definition of success. Let it become ours.
The Necessity of Pressing In
We love the prayer room. It is the center of everything we do and it is the springboard for the entire ministry that we, as a missions base, put our hands to.
Yes, we love the prayer room but there are those days, those times, when we would give anything to be somewhere else; such is our humanity. After four straight hours of prayer we begin to wonder if we can indeed keep going for the next two!
We are, all of us, weak in the things of the Spirit. We are not naturally gifted with the perseverance, patience, and intensity necessary to carry the burden of the Lord in intercession. The simple truth is that we must work to be sensitive to the things of the Spirit.
Endurance for an athlete comes only by the stretching, tearing, and rebuilding of muscle tissue through the rigors of practice, training, and competition. It is similar for our spirit man; we must condition it and build it up by pressing in and not giving up when our flesh is warring for the immediate pleasures and gratifications of this life. An athlete that never pushes through the pain of training would never be expected to win a championship. We must run in such a way as to win the prize and we must take advantage of every moment to train ourselves in the things of the kingdom of God.
