A Deliberate Act of Will

“How do you develop such a hunger for God’s word?”

“You make a decision, a deliberate act of your will. You then prioritize the time, and you stick to it. Just like exercise tones and strengthens the body, consuming God’s word tones and strengthens the soul. You’ll see a difference. Guaranteed.”

The Old Man and the Tea - McMillian Moody

A few years ago I found a book series on Amazon Kindle about Elmo Jenkins, a young man finishing up seminary with a church internship.  The books follow his journey through a life of ministry.  I reread the books every couple of years. They aren't a deep read but they are funny and have spiritual nuggets like above.

This one hit me hard last night.  I've been trying to develop a consistent time of bible reading.  But honestly, I haven't been very successful.  I'll go stretches of reading every day followed by stretches of not reading.  I have my alarm set to get up thirty minutes early.  But I'll end up going back to sleep or playing games on my phone.

Not this morning.  I was tempted to go back to sleep, but the words "deliberate act of will" ran through my head.  So I got out of bed and read the bible.  A chapter of proverbs.  Several chapters of psalms.  Some time in prayer.  Got the kids off to the bus and then spent some time in Ephesians.  It was a good morning.

Now it's time to stick to it.  Each morning my alarm will go off and I will make another deliberate act of will.  And in time it will become easier.  And I will develop that hunger for God's word.

 Ephesians 1:1-2

Paul, an apostle (special messenger, personally chosen representative) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed), by the will of God [that is, by His purpose and choice], to the saints (God's people) who are at Ephesus and are faithful and loyal and steadfast in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I like this definition of peace.  Inner calm and spiritual well-being.

Not calm, but inner calm.  Everything could look crazy and reckless on the outside, but inside is calm.  Usually, we try to portray an appearance of peace while we have tremendous turmoil on the inside.  People say that's like a swimming duck.  Everything above the water looks smooth and easy but under the water those legs are moving like crazy!  

I would say this inner calm is like an eagle clinging to a tree branch in a storm.  That eagle is being buffeted by rain.  The tree and branch are swaying to and from in the wind.  But because of that firm grasp the eagle has on the limb it isn't concerned.  It's just sitting there riding out the storm.  Calm.

Not just inner calm, but inner calm and spiritual well-being.  Have a connection to our God and Savior that will stay strong through our trials and tribulations.  

Think back to that eagle.  What if that eagle was clinging to a dead tree?  It's still calm while it's clinging to that branch.  But at some point in time that rotten branch is going to break.  When it does break, whether in that storm or the next, that eagle will lose its calm until either the storm is over or it finds itself clinging to another branch. That what it's like when someone is clinging to another religion.  That rotten branch may hold for a while, but eventually a storm will come along that will break it.  Only our connection to Christ is able to stay true and strong through any storm that may come along. 

Or the eagle's grasp on the limb may not be as strong as it should be.  Whether because of weakness, laziness or shifting feet, a gust of wind could come along at just the right time and blow the eagle off of the strong branch.  The same can happen to us if we become weak in our connection to Christ.  We become too lazy to keep the connection strong. Or we turn away from him at just the wrong moment.  The storm comes along and makes a mess of us until we focus on reattaining that strong connection to Christ.  And it always seems to take more effort to get back to the place of peace we had before being knocked about than it would have taken to maintain a strong, enduring connection to Christ before the storm knocked us off of our, unknown to us, precarious perch.  

Keep your connection strong.  Don't get lazy.  Don't lose focus.  Stay in Peace.

Consecration & Holiness

2 Timothy 1:9 AMP

[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].

Society defines us by our vocation, by the work we do. Are you a firefighter? A doctor? A plumber? A waitress? Unemployed? But those are not the vocations by which God defines us. God's job is for us to be holy.

I've been meditating on this scripture for over a week now. I keep asking myself, "How much effort do I put into living a consecrated life? How much do I work at the job of being holy?" It is effort and work. If it wasn't difficult then life wouldn't be such a struggle. There are too many lies, distractions and tricks from the devil keeping us on our toes for us to say our lives are easy. Too many trials and tribulations for us to think we're sailing through our time on this earth. So how much effort are we putting in? Are we choosing to live our lives according to God's Word?  Or are we taking the easy way and living according to the world's standards?

As the choices come between the world's values and God's values I have to admit that there are times that I don't make the right choice. It is a daily and even hourly struggle. But I hope that as my life goes on I am choosing God's values more and more often. And I find that the more time I spend reading my bible or meditating on God's instruction the easier it becomes to choose God's values. 

I choose to live a life of consecration. I choose a vocation of holiness.

I Am Ashamed

"Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,"
2 Timothy 1:8

How often do we back down from sharing Christ's sacrifice with others? We always have an excuse. It wasn't the right time. They wouldn't have listened. I didn't know what to say.  We say to ourselves that we are not ashamed of our belief, but we are afraid of how others will think of us when they know the depths of our faith. And that is being ashamed.

I am ashamed of the testimony of our Lord...

What suffering would we endure today? Lack of Respect? Sideways glances at the water cooler? Ridicule?  How does that compare to what Timothy and the Apostles went through? Jail? Beatings? Torture? Death? And those things didn't just happen in the Apostle's time. There are Christians dying for their faith in Sudan, Iraq, and China. I have a friend who was a missionary in China who at least once had his bags packed to leave at a moment's notice because the police were asking everyone around him about his activities. How small I feel when I compare the fear of possible ridicule to others fear for their family's life and safety.

I am ashamed of my shame and fear...

Fan the Flame

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,"
2 Timothy 1:6

I know I've asked God to increase my desire for the Word. To build up the fire in me. But that is not his job. He has placed in us the spark. And we are to cultivate that spark. It is up to us to build the fire. 

We won't have to do it alone. There will be people that help us protect the spark when it is small and fragile. Some will tend the fire with us. Some will give us fuel when it looks like the fire is dying. And we will do the same for others.

That doesn't mean we don't do our part in building the fire. We can't rely on others to build, tend and maintain our fire. It is OUR fire. And it will take time. A good fire isn't started with gasoline. That will burn out too quickly. You start with tinder. Slowly feed it twigs and sticks. Then put on the logs. Then you have a fire that will that will last. 

Spend time with God in prayer and study.  Meditate on His Truth.  Worship Him with everything you do.  Build up that spark until it is a roaring bonfire that jumps and spreads onto others.

He's Gone!

Nap time at our house has become a little bit of an ordeal. My son’s naps have shortened dramatically and my daughter is doing her very best to avoid them altogether. This past Monday at nap time my wife sat in my daughter’s room waiting for her to go to sleep. After telling her a couple of times to be quiet and go to sleep she finally heard her start to breathe deeply. She got and tiptoed out of the room. Just before she closed the door she stopped and left it cracked just a little bit to make sure she was sleeping. A few seconds later my daughter’s head popped up. She looked around to make sure Mom wasn’t in the room. Then she turned to her bear and said, “She’s gone!” It was all my wife could do to not bust out laughing as my daughter started playing with her stuffed animals.

How many times do we do find ourselves in that same situation with God? How many times do we feel that gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit in our heart showing us something that we are to do or say? And how many times do we try to wait until we don’t feel that nudge any longer so that we can tell ourselves, “He’s gone!”
As Christians we are followers of Christ. We are to attempt to emulate Jesus in everything we do. And when you boil it down the essentials of his life Jesus did only one thing during His time on the Earth. He lived His life according to God’s Will. Every word He spoke, every act He performed was to follow God’s Will. That needs to be our primary aspiration.  We must desire to live our life following God’s Will.

I’m certain that there were things that Jesus said and did that He did not want to say or do.  But He did them because He always followed God's Will.  When the disciples woke Him up out of fear from the storm I’m sure from His rebuke that He was a little annoyed. He might have even considered going back to sleep and letting them ride out the storm in fear. But God does not give us a spirit of fear. And God did not want the disciples to be afraid. So Jesus calmed the storm and their fears with it. I do know that Jesus did not want to die on the Cross. You may want to argue, but his prayer at Gethsemane proves the point.

"Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will [ not what I desire], but as You will and desire.”

Matthew 26:39-40

I had a “He’s gone!” moment recently. Last Friday at work in an attempt to joke around and be funny I made a disparaging comment about a co-worker. It wasn’t anything extreme or rude, but the comment was made behind her back. She didn’t hear it and would probably never know about it. It was gossip. And I knew that it was gossip. And God knew that it was gossip.

As I went to sit back down at my desk I knew I needed to apologize to her. But I was embarrassed and a little concerned about how she would react. So I procrastinated.  Before I knew it the day was over and she was gone.  I had lost my chance.  Or was I just saying to myself, "He's gone!"  Fast forward to Monday.  I hadn't thought but once or twice about apologizing and the day was close to over.  Then my wife called and told me about my daughter's nap time.  I hung up the phone still laughing.  And then it hit me.  I had done the same thing with God that my daughter had done with my wife.  I had acted like I was going to apologize, but I hadn't wanted to and was doing everything I could to convince myself not to.  So I waited until the opportunity was gone.  I knew what I had done.  And now I knew that God knew exactly what I had done.

Tuesday morning rolled around and I knew what I had to do.  I had to follow through on what God wanted me to do.  I had to apologize to her.  So I did.  It took a few minutes to work up the nerve, but I went over and apologized.  It was uneventful.  She was amused that I had was apologizing for something that she hadn't even overheard.  But it wasn't just about the apology.  It was about living my life following God Will.  

Think about the times in your life where you're trying to wait until "He's gone."  Is what God is asking you to do so unpleasant that you have to try and wait until God is gone before getting on with your life?  Because He is never gone.  He will always be there, waiting for you to follow His Will.  It may even be tougher than you think it will be, but following God's Will is much easier on your heart than trying to avoid it, and Him...

Gary Smalley Wisdom

I started reading over the notes that I took from the Gary Smalley conference earlier this month and thought it would be good to share.  These aren't exactly quotes.  There more my paraphrasing.  I hope you enjoy and are encouraged by them.

• Stress is the gap between what you are expecting to have and what you do have.


• Laughter melts away anger.


• Only God can fulfill you.  Don't expect to be fulfilled by anything or anyone other than God.  You will not and cannot be fulfilled by your spouse.


• Treat your spouse how you want your children to treat their spouses.


• Holding a grudge is like drinking poison with the hope that the other person will get sick.


• If you leave anger in your children's lives you are driving them away from you.  Daughters who aren't feeling loved from their Dad will get their love from someone else...


• Changing your spouse is impossible.  It's a waste of time.  And trying to change your spouse creates anger and an unsafe atmosphere.  It will weaken and ruin your marriage.


• You are the only person that you can change.


• God can turn any trial that you're going through into a victory!


• Every difficulty gives you more of God's Love and more of God's power!