our blog
Sep
The Long Road Ahead
The leaves are starting to change colors. The kids are back at school. Summer has come to an end. Football season has already kicked off. Before you know it, Christmas and New Years will be upon us. With this in mind, I think it’s time for a little straight talk. If you’ve been going through the last nine months looking for the light at the end of the tunnel then unfortunately you are in for a problem. Truth is: there’s no end in sight….the tunnel has no end. Yes, 2011 will soon be over but your word will have to live on long beyond that.
Otherwise this project would be totally pointless. What good would it do to promise to be “patient,” if in January you returned to your rude and impatient ways? If God spent an entire year trying to mold a more “gentle” being, how much progress has really been made, if moments after the clock passes midnight, you get into a fist fight at a New Year’s party? What’s the point of spending twelve months trying to become a “humble” person, if you only plan on bragging about how well you’ve done once the project is complete?
The goal cannot be a short term character fix. We are interested in long term and permanent change. For that to happen your word must change from being a deliberate act, to something that comes more naturally.
You’ve spent eight months thinking about your word, organizing your life to be successful, embracing the struggle, celebrating the victories, leaning on friends and hopefully noticing change. In September we want you to focus on making that change a real part of your character.
Walk into any bookstore and you’ll see dozens of titles that promise the quick fix. In just thirty days you can master a new language, lose a ton weight, get out debt and become a “better you.” The Bible though teaches us that character building takes time.
God wants to do permanent work inside of you. This month let’s come to terms with the fact that there’s a long road in front of us, but if we stay the path he will use our word to teach us things like humility, love, compassion and courage. Rather than a quick fix on outward appearance, He’ll transform our heart and motives for the inside.
- How have the thought patterns, actions and disciplines that were awkward and unnatural at the beginning on this process began to seep into your character?
- Read 2 Peter 1:3-10. The passage speaks of qualities that complement your faith (good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, generous love). Which character quality has been most developed in your pursuit of your One Word? How does focusing on one of these qualities help develop the others?
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2011. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!
Sep
A Called Person
Jeremiah 1:4-10 (NIV)
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5″Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
6″Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10See, today I appoint you…
Here we have what is commonly referred to as a “call.” If I were to ask you about your call you would probably have a difficult time answering such a “spiritual” question. But it is not nearly as complicated as you might think.
Basically, God made Jeremiah with a purpose and He will take responsibility for fulfilling it. Your life is no different than Jeremiah. God has created you with a purpose. He is just as committed to completing the purpose He has for you as He was for Jeremiah. Let that sink in! He is just as committed to you as He was to Jeremiah!
We simply have to arrange our lives accordingly. The scene unfolds quite normally—just in the way you might expect. God comes to Jeremiah and declares the fact that He made him. He reminds Jeremiah that He knows him, intimately.
Let those words in verse 5 be spoken to you:
“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart…”
Those words are almost instantly met with resistance. Ahhhh… God you’ve got the wrong person. I am too young, too old, too shy, too dumb, too whatever excuse you decide to place in this space. God is going to interrupt you for He knows exactly what excuse will roll off of your tongue. He formed you and He knows you. What we begin to see is that we are not called to fulfill God’s purposes in our own strength and resourcefulness. We are to trust in His.
Do you see how this ends? God told Jeremiah I have appointed you. He tells you the same thing this morning. I have appointed this day and this hour. I have appointed you for this exact time for this exact purpose. Today will be one more day in which God’s purposes are fulfilled in your life. What we must do is to stop, listen and watch to see where He wants to use us.
Lord, I do not feel like a called person. I have my list of reasons why I am not effective for you… but you already know them. I confess my excuses as a lack of faith in Your ability to fulfill Your purposes. I ask for You to reveal to me what my life is for. Give me the patience to discover this as I pursue You. Give me the faith to believe that You have appointed me… Help me to see this today. Amen.
- Why do you often find it difficult to see yourself as someone who is “called” by God to make His name known?
- How could seeing yourself as a “called” person influence your willingness to let God transform your heart through your One Word? As you reflect on your One Word journey, where is one place God could use you to make His name known?
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2010. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!
Sep
The Next Right Thing
In a few days, my beloved Boston Red Sox’s will be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. As I try to recover from the sting of this reality, I comfort myself by reflecting on the greatest comeback of all-time. Any serious baseball fan knows that being down 0-3 in a 7 game playoff series means certain defeat. The team facing elimination might pull a fluke win or two to make things interesting, but they never manage to pull off 4 straight W’s. So, back in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox’s found themselves with their backs against the wall it would have been easy to just shut it down early and give up.
The cards were stacked against them. They were facing the Evil Empire (New York Yankees). Their pitching ace (Curt Schilling) was limping to the mound injured. On top of having the Curse of the Bambino hanging over their heads, they also had thoughts of Bill Buckner running through their minds. History was not on their side.
Yet, instead of calling for the next morning’s tee time or planning their family’s vacation, they decided to “reverse the curse.” How? Instead of being consumed by the huge obstacle they faced, they took hold of the mindset of just trying to win the “next inning.” It seems cliché, but there is plenty of truth in taking it one game at a time.
For many of us, integrity and how we live our lives seem so far apart that we think attaining a Godly character is a lost cause. There is so much we need to work on that we don’t have the slightest clue where to start. However, if the Red Sox’s can reverse over 100 years of bad history, there is hope for our character yet. In terms of integrity, it is about playing the next point by just doing the “next right thing.”
What the next right thing is will be different for everybody. Each of us has places in our lives where we are more prone to forgo our integrity to feel loved, valued and accepted. Doing whatever it takes to meet those needs almost becomes second nature. Most of the time we act without even thinking. When we allow our lives to remain unchecked, these reflex actions build upon each other and can lead to enormous regret and hurt. They also reveal our true character and shine light on the things we truly value. The question that we must wrestle with is whether the things we label as our convictions truly matches up to our words and actions.
Integrity doesn’t come easy. In our quest for a life defined by integrity, we must possess perseverance, hope and courage. There are many who want to be a man/woman of character, but are reluctant to put in the effort needed for this to occur. They exchange integrity for the easy life. Others keep themselves so busy that they have absolutely no time to examine the matters of the heart. However, what most of us are guilty of is arranging our circumstances so we appear to be people of integrity. We are so quick to throw in the towel when God is looking for people who are willing to stay in something that matters: our spiritual formation.
- Consider the area in which you struggle with integrity the most when it comes to reflecting your One Word. What is the “next right thing” to do in order to reflect this characteristic in your life?
- Read Romans 5:1-5. Why are courage, perseverance and hope key elements in the battle to become the type of person God made you to be? How have you seen this cycle (perseverance producing hope) play out in your own life?
Are you looking for a way to keep your word in front of you all year long? Register for a My One Word account! One of the key features of a MOW account is an online Word Journal that allows you to capture your thoughts to reflective questions like you see above. You can go back at any time to read your completed journals to see how God has been moving in your life through your word in 2010. If you already have an account, the questions from this blog have been posted to your Word Journal — log in to your account to start your Word Journal today!