ECIPLESHIP for Passionate Christ-Followers

This morning I read about Uzziah, King of Judah. It says in 2Chronicles 26:5 that “Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.” And much success he had, by the way. He was king for 52 years — most of that consisted of honoring God and leading well.

Things changed toward the end of his life, however. In verse 16 we read, “But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.” His sin subjected Him to God’s discipline. He was stricken with leprosy right on the spot and lived outside of the city for the rest of his life.

Here are a few random thoughts related to Uzziah:

• A godly priest was a critical part of his holy living. We will never succeed without godly people pouring themselves into us.
• Fearing God was central to his holiness. God was not overly friendly to Uzziah. He was, however, powerful, strong, righteous, and just. Tremendous respect for the nature of God enabled Uzziah to live rightly for most of his life
• Uzziah was successful as long as he “sought guidance” from the Lord. He was dependent, therefore, humble in this sobering task of leading a nation.
• Success and power planted the seeds of pride and independence leading to his downfall. Evidently, Uzziah forgot how dependent he needed to be upon God. He presumed that he was invincible to failure, even in his relations with a holy God.
• No matter how much good you have done, sin is still sin. God will deal with it.
• Uzziah failed to finish well due to the pride that infiltrated his soul. He forgot to seek the Lord, humble himself daily, and depend on God’s wisdom rather than his own.

So – fear God, humbly seek His guidance today, and persevere in God’s ways to the very end.

2 Timothy 2:3, 8-10:

Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. …8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.

A soldier suffers for a bigger cause. And suffering is part of the equation when you’re a soldier.

My son, Erik, is a member of the Army National Guard. He recently attended an advanced man-to-man combat training program where he earned a Marshall Arts degree. I have come to admire him so much for his willingness to suffer simply because he’s a soldier. In this week of advanced training, he tells of being pulverized by guys nearly a hundred pounds more than him. Out of twenty six soldiers, only twenty graduated. The others came home with broken body parts and torn tendons. The assaults were brutal, but with determination to persevere, he finished the course. Why? Because he’s a soldier and soldiers do this stuff.

Scripture tells us to “suffer as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Be tough! Be strong! Persevere! This is what soldiers do…and they do it for a higher purpose. They always need to be ready for battle so that their side wins.

By the way, soldiers never fight alone. They train together, fight together, and suffer together.

The Apostle Paul, who penned the above Bible passage, then tells us how he has applied this to his life. Do you see it? “I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

This Christ warrior is so gripped with his purpose in life that suffering makes sense! Most of us don’t have such a good handle on this aspect of life. We often live for ourselves and our personal pursuits rather than for the purposes of God. His transcendent purposes are more compelling and life-giving than anything we can ever manufacture.

When you have been gripped with the higher purposes of God for your life, suffering begins to make sense. It’s not about you…not even in hardship.

I’m keeping it real simple today. My fifteen year-old son, Shane, just started his own blog. If you want to see something cool…and also see what Jesus means to a teenager, you better check out his new site today. Shane’s site is a whole lot nicer than mine. He outdid me again!

One of the most memorable statements I’ve heard in quite some time was in response to my question, “What do you have to lose if you give God your everything?” The answer? “My freedom.”

That may not seem so memorable unless you also realize that the guy I was talking with was on the other side of a glass wall and we were talking through a couple of handsets. During his few daily hours of  ”free time”, I came to check up on the inmate to give him some unconditional love and timeless wisdom.

The prisoner’s “freedom statement” highlights the bent of all of humanity — we want to rule our own lives. Even in prison we cling to the last vestiges of freedom we have…the freedom to own our own lives, think what we want to think, do what we want to do (even if it’s in our mind or imagination). We have a sin-induced aversion to letting God be Lord (absolute ruler) of our lives.

When my friend made the freedom statement, I thanked him for his honesty. And then I said, “How much freedom do you have?”

“Not much right now,” he responded.

I clarified, “And you will have even less if you don’t let God fix you. The devil’s intent is to kill, steal, and destroy you…and he’s winning right now.”

Yes — we are all slaves to something. The two big categories are that we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. Real freedom is found when we are no longer slaves to sin…when Christ has truly set us free. There is no freedom like that freedom. If Christ has set us free, we are free indeed!

Romans 6:16-18 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Perseverance is succeeding because you’re determined to, not because you’re entitled to. Achievers don’t sit back and wait for success because they think the world ‘owes them’. No, if you’re wise you’ll ask God for direction, stand firm on the word He has given you, go forward and refuse to quit. You must adopt the attitude of the man who said, “We are determined to win. We’ll fight them until hell freezes over, and if we have to, we’ll fight them on ice.” Recalling the trials he’d faced, Paul said: “I started, and I’m going to finish. I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door… And that’s not the half of it” (2 Corinthians 11:23-28 TM). The Word for Today, by Bob Gass, January 1, 2009 (www.thevine.co.nz)

One word describes Paul – relentless. He was relentless to persevere for something bigger than himself. To persevere, as I am addressing it here, is not just about surviving, but thriving for a greater good. Persevering does not simply mean we keep our heart beating, our thoughts sane, and our heads held high no matter what may come. To persevere means that when we get on the other side of an ordeal, we are better for it, that God’s plan has been accomplished, and that God’s glory has been revealed.

To persevere, we need more than outstanding determination and good information. We need others to help us along. Even though this notion is not popular among many today, it is absolutely true. Our American culture has reinforced the idea that individualism is better than community. We have adopted a dangerous ideology that has convinced us that life is better and easier when it is uncluttered from watchful eyes and caring accountability. We convince ourselves that we can handle life alone better than depending on others. Of course, when we’ve adopted this mentality, we don’t have to deal with our failures, shame, weaknesses, and sin so much. We can pretend that all is well even while our inner world is crumbling in solitude.

Don’t ever climb a mountain in that condition. Don’t ever climb a mountain alone. Never-the-less, those mountainous challenges are a fact of life. We will need to face them. The question is not if it is even possible to conquer them alone. Why try?

Base camp is an essential element in conquering any of the world’s most challenging peaks. Everest’s base camp, for example, stands at over 17,000 feet! This is where teams gather to get acclimated to the high altitude (they stay there for three weeks before ascending the peak), form relationships with their climbing partners, learn from their guides, and prepare mentally for the daunting challenges ahead. The value in togetherness is never overrated in mountain climbing. Only a fool would ever attempt to ascend a mountain alone. To do this means you are asking for trouble. Most wouldn’t even survive. Base camp is essential in conquering any of the world’s most challenging peaks.

Base camp is essential in conquering life’s most challenging peaks too. Don’t go it alone. There is a much better, safer, and wiser way to persevere through life’s hardships.

Shane and I did something fun yesterday — we went to the Red Bull  Flutag on Harriet Island in St. Paul. What a blast!

“Flutag” means flight day in German. This may be a generous description of the event. Most of the flights went straight down from the 50 foot high ramp, plunging with impressive flair into the mighty Mississippi. It was a display of our human race’s penchant for goofiness. With little other purpose than to have fun, people spent hours on the disastrous flying machines only to give 90,000 attendants a thrilling display of engineering failure. But, wow! Did we have fun! And we even saw a 16 year Flutag world record broken! Someone actually flew 207 feet before getting wet.

I think we Christians sometime miss out. We can get so serious about life that we forget to enjoy this amazing daily gift. We sometimes look like we’ve been weened on dill pickles. Laughter is far from us even though scripture tells us that laughter is good medicine.

So here’s a suggestion for today. Worship God by laughing today…a lot. I think it makes God really happy when we’re happy. I suspect it brings Him some of His best moments. With honest giddy emotion, we let God know what a wonderful world and delightful experience He is providing for us. Even down here.

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. Jeremiah 29:11-13

The Hebrew used in this verse for the concept of  ”wholeheartedly” is the word “dawrash”. It means to frequently tread over and over the same place. It’s sort of like the earring back that my wife lost recently. It fell somewhere in the kitchen. So there I was on my hands and knees. I looked over and over the same spot many times. I even had my hands gently touching the surface of the floor in case I would feel it. When I was almost ready to give up, I saw it! There is was! Because I “dawrashed” it, I finally found it.

You may say, “But I’ve looked for God before. Haven’t found Him either.” Dawrash! Go over and over the same territory again and again. Suddenly God will say, “Ta-dah! Here I am!” He wants to be found, but reveals Himself to those who prove they are serious about finding Him as their greatest treasure. God wants to be found. Will you wholeheartedly seek for Him?

Proverbs 8:17 states a similar truth, but with a different Hebrew word as its emphasis.

“I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.”

That phrase, “diligently seek me” comes from the Hebrew word “shawhar”. This word most literally means, “to be early at any task, to be earnest or excited about an endeavor.” The idea in this word is that you are so giddy about seeking, that you are energized to go after it as soon as possible. It’s a little like the fisherman that rises at 5:00AM to get on the lake, or the deer hunter who climbs onto his stand before sunrise. There is such eagerness for this experience that nothing can hold them back. The person who has this approach to finding God will certainly find Him. It’s all in the orientation of our passions and desires.

What are you doing to seek God? Are you diligent, casual, passionate or ambivalent? Are you seeking God with all your strength? Especially in the midst of hardships, God urges us to seek for Him. And the promise: We will find Him! He wants to be found! God doesn’t want to remain hidden from you. God wants you to find Him, but He’s also wise enough to know that only those who really want Him will truly seek. Are you seeking for God? Not some man-made idea of God, but seeking the real God as revealed in Holy Scripture.

Any great treasure is worth seeking. It’s just that so few seek great treasure. Check out the following article:

Salvagers discover treasure-laden shipwreck  Fri Jan 30, 2009

An American salvage company is claiming a record treasure haul from a World War II shipwreck worth billions of dollars. According to Sub Sea Research, there are 70 tonnes of platinum, 10 tonnes of gold and about 1.5 tonnes of industrial diamonds and gemstones within the shipwreck.

At today’s market prices, the ship could contain between $6 billion and $11 billion worth of treasure. The company’s founder, Greg Brooks, says the treasure was once a large payment being sent to the United States.

“It was basically a payment being sent to the Lend Lease program that the United States had developed to help their allies in Europe,” he said. “It was just left there and we happened to take the initiative and take the expense upon ourselves to go out and look for it.”

Sub Sea Research has dubbed the wreck ‘the Blue Baron’, but its whereabouts remain a mystery. The salvage company has not revealed the exact coordinates of the treasure.

That’s one good day of treasure hunting! Only those that really want to find the treasure intentionally choose to go after it. It reveals the depth of their desire to find and experience that treasure.

So it is with God. He wants us to seek Him. He is not a cheap or easy commodity that can be taken lightly and gathered casually. He is the Treasure above all treasures. When we seek for Him with our whole heart, it proves that we really want Him.

Jeremiah declared the Word of the Lord, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day stopped seeking. They assumed they knew all about God. When the Son of God didn’t fit into their preconceived ideas about what the Messiah would be like, they rejected Him and killed Him. They stopped seeking God with all their heart and they missed out on embracing Jesus.

How dangerous, especially for those who have an abundance of knowledge. We naturally cement ourselves into a traditional or cultural understanding of who God is and how He works. We tend to unconsciously think we have God figured out, especially if we have been taught and trained in the church for many years. But God says, even to the “chosen people”, seek me wholeheartedly and you will find me.

Check out this article by an amazing leader, Perry Noble. This is DEFINITELY worth reading…

Whether you feel like God is there or not, He is. When you feel like your prayers get no higher than the ceiling, God hears and cares. God’s Word tells us something that we must embrace every day of our lives: When the world has overwhelmed us, God’s compassion sustains us. He hears, He cares, He acts on our behalf.

I love 1John 5:14-15: “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

This verse is sometimes used like a blank check. Ask whatever and you’ll get it. Wrong! The key phrase in this regard is “whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.” This is a challenge to practice labored praying, not lazy praying. We often flippantly ask for things from God and wonder why He doesn’t answer. Maybe we’re asking for the wrong things. God is not going to give us something that is bad for us just because we ask. Like a little child with limited understanding, we don’t always understand what we really need or what plan the Father has for us. The key is to dialog with God (through listening and talking) to such a degree that we come to grips with what His will is. Then we can pray with confidence and clarity, knowing that we are asking for things that God is waiting to give us.

Right beside our bathroom mirror hangs a simple framed verse which reads, “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly,” Psalm 5:3. Every morning, I am reminded, not only to pray, but to pray with expectation! God really hears and wants to give us what is best. He wants to help us bear the burdens we must bear that day. He wants to assist us in climbing the mountain we must climb in the hours ahead. He is listening whether I feel it or not.

Oh—God is good. God hears your prayer. Will you entrust Him with it?