I'm 69, I am past the point where you would expect me to still be asking what I want to do with my life. Or, more importantly, what does God want from me? I am a firm believer in Jeremiah 29:11 where God says "I know the plans I have for you, plans for you to prosper......" So there is a plan and I think it is high time I lived up to it.
I am currently struggling with the difference between what I am doing and what it is I feel I should be doing. In prayerfully looking at this I find myself thinking about what leadership is. When I think of leadership I am tempted to think in terms of the ability to plan, organize and complete projects. I don't feel that I really have a lot of the strengths needed to lead in that way.
There is another way to look at leadership. It can also be about setting about modeling something in a way that makes other people want to follow. So, if I feel it is important that people learn the value of arriving to Sunday School class on time ready to study, then I must model that behavior so that when I talk about it the response will be positive because they have seen me doing exactly that.
Before I continue talking about how I respond to this understanding I need to make it clear that I do feel called to lead. And I feel God has given me specific areas in which I can make a difference and fulfill God's plan for my life. This may be the first time I have ever expressed this in a public way. God has called me to minister and be an influence in three particular area's - prayer, fitness & health and one to one ministry.
I will continue this in my next post.
Friday, August 28, 2015
Monday, August 3, 2015
Obedience trumps legacy
OK, guilty. I have spent too much time worrying about my legacy. I have realized that I need to be more concerned about my daily obedience in following Christ.
Our Discipleship Class is studying the life and epistles of Peter. In our lesson this past Sunday morning was this statement: "Suppose God wants to teach you to say, 'I know how to be abased' - are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in the bucket-to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served?"
Now look, I don't want to have my life considered insignificant. To the contrary I would like to die knowing that my life made a difference, at least to one or two people. I want people to think of me and remember the good person that I was and the positive things I represented and did for people. To be 'abased' does not sound like fun at all. Just look at these synonyms for abase - humble, humiliate, belittle, demean, lower, degrade, debase, cheapen, discredit. I think I can safely say, unlike Paul in Philippians 4:12, I do not know how to be abased. God does not expect me to like being abased for His name, but He does want me to be willing if that is what comes my way. He is more concerned that I follow Him in obedience day by day without concern for what history may say of me. I must be willing to be insignificant in the eyes of the world in order to be significant in His world to come. In fact, maybe when people look at my life and see that I was an obedient disciple that would be the ultimate significance.
Our Discipleship Class is studying the life and epistles of Peter. In our lesson this past Sunday morning was this statement: "Suppose God wants to teach you to say, 'I know how to be abased' - are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in the bucket-to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served?"
Now look, I don't want to have my life considered insignificant. To the contrary I would like to die knowing that my life made a difference, at least to one or two people. I want people to think of me and remember the good person that I was and the positive things I represented and did for people. To be 'abased' does not sound like fun at all. Just look at these synonyms for abase - humble, humiliate, belittle, demean, lower, degrade, debase, cheapen, discredit. I think I can safely say, unlike Paul in Philippians 4:12, I do not know how to be abased. God does not expect me to like being abased for His name, but He does want me to be willing if that is what comes my way. He is more concerned that I follow Him in obedience day by day without concern for what history may say of me. I must be willing to be insignificant in the eyes of the world in order to be significant in His world to come. In fact, maybe when people look at my life and see that I was an obedient disciple that would be the ultimate significance.
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