Have you ever heard someone say something and immediately thought, “Wow! That was profound! I wish that I’d thought of that.”
Come on, be truthful. That’s never happened to you? Well, it has to me, and the most recent occurrence is what I want to share with you today.
A few months ago my best friend (other than my wife Jackie) Rusty and I attended an ARC (Association of Related Churches) Conference in Dallas, Texas. The conference is attended by Pastors, church planters, and ministry students from various parts of the country. What draws me there is two and a half days of on-fire worship sessions and messages from the pastors who have been invited to speak.
During my first ARC Conference last year, I received several “nuggets” that opened my eyes and my heart, and I got some clarity on a decision that Jackie and I had been wrestling with for months. As a result of last year’s experience, I awaited this year’s conference with great expectations.
I wasn’t disappointed.
I was lifted to unbelievable heights by the worship sessions and blown away by the messages given by some clearly anointed men and women. The last message, on the last hour of the last day, delivered by Pastor Craig Groeschel of Life Church in Edmund, Oklahoma, was the one that “hit me in the mouth” and left me a bit awestruck. And of course, that’s the one that I want to share with you today.
I’m going to offer you my version of Pastor Craig’s message, because I couldn’t give it to you verbatim, and because I wouldn’t do him or his message justice if I tried to! Besides, I’ve taken the gist of his message and made it a part of my fabric, a part of me. His message has taken what was on my heart and elevated it to a “nutha-whole-level!”
Making a difference.
My intention, my aim, my purpose in life since I declared myself to be a soldier of Christ in 2006 has been to make a difference, regardless of how large or small, in the world. My “difference” has nothing to do with material possessions, business achievements, or personal accomplishments. In fact, it’s quite the contrary.
At the core of my “making a difference” is helping people in whatever way possible to improve their walk in life, to grow their careers, and of course, to strengthen their relationship with God.
There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that much of what has happened in my life during the past several years is a direct result of several individuals who tried to make a difference in my life. A couple of these people were long-time acquaintances, but many were people that I’d just met!
For reasons that I just didn’t “get” back then, they took the time to invest in me. From my perspective, it’s a perfect example of the “paying it forward” principle that we always hear about, but seldom take the time to do. I believe that at times our reluctance to pay it forward is because quite often, doing so is an inconvenience. You see, sometimes you have to go out of your way, or give up your time or your resources to make a difference.
At any rate, as best I could remember, I’d never been a recipient of this act of selflessness, and to be quite honest with you, it kind of rocked my world. I just couldn’t figure out why a stranger would take the time to invest in me, but to this day I remain grateful that they did. And I guess that has been and continues to be my motivation for paying it forward.
History
After hearing Pastor Groeschel’s message and turning in over and over in my mind to view it from every perspective, and to get the “fit and feel” of it, much like a new suit, I decided to raise the bar for my daily expectations.
Now, it’s just not enough for me to want to make a difference in the world each day. I’m aiming higher.
If God will help me (I can do nothing without Him), I want to make history every day.
Okay, before you jump to the conclusion that I’m really cocky or full of myself, check this out…
Those people that invested in me several years ago changed the course my life. One of them instilled in me a confidence that I’d never had. One awakened business skills that I never knew that I possessed. One of them led me to the Bible. One of them…
I could go on and on. The point here is that those people changed the course of my life, and of my wife Jackie’s, and of all the people that work in our hair salon, and God–only-knows how many others. Those people made history, because they changed my life. Make sense now?
One and the same.
Okay, I’ll concede that “making a difference” and “making history” mean essentially the same thing. In essence, both translate to paying it forward in the lives of others, so what’s the big deal?
To be quite honest with you, the answer has nothing to do with what others may or may not receive from me. I like to think that I’m going to share what I have with others with the same passion and intensity, regardless of whatever “label” that I may put on what I’m trying to do.
The answer has to do with me, or more specifically, with my mind.
I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to put more effort into doing the things that I perceive to be more important. It’s my own perception of what I’m trying to do that raises the bar for me.
In my mind, God gives me opportunities to share my testimony about my life before Him and now with Him in it because that what He wants me to do. And I want to approach every one of those opportunities, not from the aspect of just talking to someone, but with the expectations of improving their lives; of changing their lives. Making history.
The prospect of “making a difference” fills me with anticipation. The notion of God allowing me to “make history,” to changing the course of someone’s life the way that others did for me, puts a fire in me that cannot be extinguished. In the words of a credit card ad, the internal and spiritual rewards of making history are, quite simply put, priceless.
You.
If you find yourself in a position to pay it forward, to invest in someone, to lift them up, to speak truth into their lives, or to share what God has done in your life, do both of us a favor and try it.
It may be an inconvenience, and it may take up some of your time, and it may put you out of your comfort zone, but believe me when I tell you that God will bless you for it in ways that you can’t begin to imagine.
So go on. Ask God to give you the opportunity to be a history maker.
He will.
Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-
the Lord detests them both. Proverbs 17:15
There’s a bad tendency that many of us have, and it’s addressed in no uncertain terms in this passage from Proverbs. In fact, it lets us know that there are two things that God cannot stand. Let’s take acloser look at both of them, but in the reverse order in which they were written.
Condemning the innocent…
Quite often, far too many of us make a rush to judgment. We jump to conclusions before we know all the facts. In our eagerness to be right, or perhaps just to get our voices heard, we voice our opinions or cast a negative vote.
We don’t take the time to take a second look at a situation, or to really consider the consequences of the charges that we’re leveling, or the individual that we’re leveling them at.
Sometimes, the wrongness of our actions is escalated to a “nutha-whole-level.” On occasion, our condemnation of an individual has nothing to do with issue itself. Sometimes, it’s emotions such as jealousy, envy, or prejudice that serves as a catalyst for our judgments. When that happens, we don’t really want to know the truth, because if we did, we’d be the guilty ones after all was said and done. Just ask the Jewish nation, who unjustly condemned Jesus, and then in a bizarre twist, were unjustly condemned at the hands of the Nazis centuries later.
Acquitting the guilty…
Several years ago, National Football League veteran and Hall of Fame member O.J. Simpson was found “not guilty” on charges that he had viciously and ruthlessly murdered his ex-wife and her boyfriend outside of her home.
The evidence against Simpson was so overwhelming that the majority of the American public, including several so-called “experts,” considered the case to be a slam-dunk for the prosecution. It was a no-brainer. The guy was guilty, and he was gonna pay the price for what he’d done wrong! Or at least that’s what a lot of people thought.
Guess what? A jury of his peers found him to be innocent.
Our country was immediately divided, predominantly upon racial lines. One side felt as if O.J. had gotten away with murder, while the other side considered it to be a travesty that he had been charged at all. What should have been an issue about right and wrong became an issue about black and white.
The real problem was that both sides made a rush to judgment. One side was ready to convict O.J. for what he did, and the other was going to defend him, regardless.
As unfair as this seems, we, unfortunately do the same thing all the time. We’re quick to condemn when we’re ready to, but just as quickly we’ll defend someone or turn a blind eye to their actions if they happen to be on our list of favorite people.
Is that fair? Not hardly. But at the end of the day, it’s not for us to truly judge the heart or actions of any man.
We have to leave that up to God.
One morning a couple of weeks ago I was reading that day’s suggested passages from the One Year Bible, which is a plan that takes you from Genesis to Revelation, from cover to cover, in a twelve month period (hence the name). My wife Jackie and I began following the One Year Bible just over three years ago for several reasons:
· We begin each day with God’s Word, as husband and wife, as best friends, as partners in life, and above all else, as Christians. For many years our day began with coffee and conversation, which was good, but we’ve found that sharing Scripture together is even better!
· We “grow” in God’s Word. With all the negative sights, sounds, and news in the world today, the Bible has been in the past, is today, and will be in the future a source of truth and hope.
· I conclude our readings each morning by “covering us” in God’s Armor, as found in Ephesians 6:10-20. I’ve done a bit of reflecting on this morning ritual, and I think that it’s not so much the reciting of the passage as it is the willful, conscious, asking to be protected from the attacks of the enemy and to be Spirit-filled every day.
· This marks the fourth time that we’ve done the One Year Bible, and each time I’ve “seen” something that I’ve never seen before. I believe that this insight is a result of being at a different spiritual level each time, and from asking God to reveal more of His Word to me…
On this particular day the passage was from Acts 7 and 8, and we read about two men so completely different that the only thing they seemingly had in common was that their names begin with an “S.” Oh yeah, there also just happened to be two more S’s mentioned in the passage…
The first of these men, Stephen, was a Disciple of Christ. Perhaps even more important was the fact that Stephen was filled by the Spirit, and as a result, walked with a boldness that matched his passion for and love of the Lord.
We get a glimpse of that boldness as Stephen “calls out” the Jewish leaders for their offenses against God and His people, and especially for murdering Jesus, the Messiah.
Infuriated, the Jewish leaders raised their fists at Stephen, expecting him to recant his words. Undaunted, unafraid, and Spirit-filled, Stephen continued with his accusations. Pushed to the breaking point by Stephen’s words, the leaders dragged Stephen out of the city and began to stone him. Even as he was being stoned to death, Stephen offered a prayer to God asking that his murderers not be held accountable for their sin.
Among the gathering of people witnessing the unfolding of events was the second “S”, a young man named Saul. Saul’s hatred for the followers of Christ was as intense as Stephen’s love for them, so much so that his sole purpose in life was to seek out and persecute the believers, and to destroy the church.
It was the final “S” that fueled Saul’s hatred and passion, and his name was Satan, whose purpose is to “steal, kill, and destroy.” John 10:10
By nature, Saul was a good man with a heart as good as Stephen’s. This became evident when God called on Saul to serve Him. Saul’s name was changed to Paul, and he went on to write a good portion of the New Testament and can probably be credited with spreading the Gospel as much if not more than the chosen Twelve.
I cannot pass up this opportunity to say for probably the umpteenth time, that Paul is my favorite person in the Bible. Paul was called by Jesus, was radically saved, and devoted his life to sharing the Word and growing God’s Kingdom; all things that I can associate with. Perhaps even more important is that fact the God will use the least likely and seemingly least worthy of us to serve Him.
Heart
We’re all born with a good heart, you know? We all have God’s heart in us at birth, because He loves us all the same. He doesn’t play favorites. What happened to Saul is exactly what happens to many of us: we fall victim to Satan’s vast array of weapons and tricks, and in the process we fall farther and farther away from God.
What can we do to avoid this? Ask God for help. Pray, not only for yourself, but also for others, as did Stephen. Ask for the Mind of Christ. Seek to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Draw a line in the sand…take a stand…make a commitment to you and to God to walk with Him and not with Satan.
Walk in freedom. Walk with boldness. Walk, as we are all created to walk, being filled with the Holy Spirit.
In and through Jesus we are victors. We don’t have to be victims.
