Christ heals through Discipleship

How do we find the life Christ promises us in the scriptures? Christ was sent to heal the broken-hearted and set the captive free, right? Simple enough. So why are so many Christians still broken hearted? Still captive to (you name it)? Because we are all still wounded and in need of healing. Deep, soul restoring healing found only in the work of Christ. And He typically heals us through one of four 'streams'. The first of which is Discipleship.

I'm not talking about discipleship of accountability, tithing, fasting, scripture memorization... Is that what Jesus called the 'disciples' to? Did he call out to Peter and Andrew to lay down their fishing nets and learn how to spend more time in the church or memorizing scripture? NO! At the core of Jesus' heart - the heart of God, was to spend time with us. To have relationship with us... He wants us to walk with him. And through that daily walking with God... we become more disciplined... more holy. The goal is for sure to become holy - but not by observing the law. Discipleship through walking with God. That is the path to healing; to 'wholeness'. And that's what we all need right? Becoming WHOLE through healing the brokeness. Jesus wants us to hang out with him; walk with him and the trade off is healing, wholeness, LIFE.

That's what discipleship is men (and women).... learning to walk with God. How much time did Jesus spend teaching the disciples about the ten commandments? How much time did he spend teaching the 12 to be legalistic? What are the scriptures of the New Testament filled with? Relationship right? Spending time together. Doing life together. People weren't drawn to Jesus cause he was a great teacher of the Law (legalism) and how to obey it. Did he praise the pharisees? Did he hold them up as the standard? But is that not what the church does today? Just do this, and that. Take that class, observe this law and that one. Lead a Bible study, serve in the church more than you spend time with your family. Then you will have arrived, right? We strive for that and year after year we mope around in emptyness; brokeness. Wondering why we're not further along in our 'walk'.

Act 6:3... Jesus is telling the Twelve, choose 7 men known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. Why? Wisdom is the key; the foundation. It is especially needed early on as you are learnging to walk with God. The learned wisdom of knowing if the voice you hear in your head is God's, your's, or the enemy's. And that simply takes time, friends. That alone is a strong enough deterant for most, right? Well, I gave it a shot God. I tried a few times to pray and listen for you and it just doesn't work. It takes time. Tiger Woods didn't pick up a set of clubs at 21 and suddenly become the youngest player to ever win the Masters. Tiger has been swinging a golf club since he was 6 months old! and he practiced - probably every day. He never gave up. Golf was everything to him. He has given his life to it and he is reaping the fruit of that dedication.

That's all Jesus wants. He wants us to spend time with him. Talk with him. Listen for him. Scripture does not describe wisdom as the mastery of principles. It is described as a discerning heart. God offered to give Solomon WHATEVER he wanted. And he asked for a discerning heart. Solomon is remembered as the wisest person who lived; not the most disciplined in principles. And wisdom comes from walking with God; learning from him. And in the beginning you are going to stink at it. You are going to suck for a while even. I've only recently begun this journey of learning to walk with God and it feels like two steps forward and one back - on a good day. Yet God doesn't give up on me and now and then I hear him. Just two nights ago I was working through Eldredge's Walking With God Journal and as I was finishing up I just threw a question out there. A significant situation has seemingly disrupted life as I know it right now. It's taken many days to even get to a place of willingness to hear from God. And so I say, "Father, do I even go through with this certain pending situation?" I had already made my list of logical pros and cons. I was ready to hear a yes or no from him. But what I heard was, "Just walk with me. It'll all work out." I don't have clarity on what I wanted clarity on. I want answers and God just wants me to walk with him. That's the life he wants for us... walk with him and he'll work out the details as we trust him with them. The more time we spend with him, the more we learn to hear him. And as we learn to hear him we gain wisdom. And all long the way we are healing; restoring our heart.

To hear from God we have to believe he is still speaking; that an intimate, conversational relationship with God is the norm. It's was not just reserved for Moses, David, Paul... but all of us. Secondly, we have to assume that it is ours to hear his voice. "The sheep know my voice..." And third, to begin to tune into our heart. Christ dwells IN our hearts. We don't audibly hear his voice, it is within. You have to cultivate an awareness of tuning into your heart. Unplugging from life and getting quiet.

There is so much more to say but this is a good start. Bottom line is that God doesn't want our good deeds alone. We can never be good enough. And being good enough is simply a wounded, broken life striving for something unacheiveable. The Father simply wants our time. He wants a relationship. And relationships take time.

Simple Clarity?

(The Noble Heart eLetter by Gary Barkalow)

I remember one evening watching a nature show about lions in Africa.  It was one of those amazing productions where you observed a lion's life from birth through adulthood.  I watched the lion as a cub rolling in the grass, wrestling with his siblings, pouncing on his father, his mother grooming him.  As the cub got older, I watch him on his initial hunts with some success, but mostly failure.  In the lion's later life, he found a mate and had his own cubs.  His days consisted of guiltlessly resting in the shade in the heat of the day, confidently hunting for food and valiantly defending his family from predators.  Something about the simple clarity of his life and the sense of "being", untouched by the nagging, shaming question of, "who am I" and "what should I be doing with my life" stirred a type of jealousy in me.  It wasn't necessarily a simple life that I was wanting, but instead it was his simple clarity - he was just being what he was ...a lion.  If we were created to be something, to do something, to contribute something why is it so hard then to figure out what that is?
 
In C.S. Lewis', The Chronicles of Narnia, we read of a great prince who had been imprisoned under an enchantment by a witch.  While under her spell Prince Rilian would lose all recollection of who he was and where he came from - "while I was enchanted I could not remember my true self."  And during his brief moments of clarity, being told that those moments were actually times of insanity, the prince would be voluntarily bound to a chair until he would come back into his "right mind" which he later described as a "heavy, tangled, cold, clammy web of evil magic." 
 
This is how life feels for most of us - we are lost in a fog of confusion and dullness with brief moments of clarity and desire which seem so hard to hold on to.  And when we are able to capture those moments that have a ring of authenticity about them, we quickly start to doubt their legitimacy.  Could we be under some web of evil magic?

 

"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people."  Eph. 1:18 NLV

"I press on (strenuously pursue) to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."  Phil. 3:12 NIV
 
In the pursuit with you,

 

Gary 

Calling

by Bob A. Clifton

A calling is simply God’s shaping of your burden and beckoning you to your service to him in the place and pursuit of his choosing.

Read it again! Once you finish reading it again, do it again! Why? I think this is the single greatest sentence I have seen in a while describing our calling. As you can see I am still in the same place from two weeks ago. I have been thinking more and more about this idea that we are called to do something very special, and very unique for the kingdom. Just when I think he is done dealing with me on this issue, he brings it up again. Somehow in the last couple weeks I have heard four sermons on the issue. I have ended up in multiple conversations and then the most recent book I pick up has a chapter smack dab in the middle dealing with our calling. Obviously asking God “why” at this point.

According to Ravi Zacharias in The Grand Weaver he expands on the idea of our calling. One of the things he mentions is “this is what we are seeking-a life and a calling that do not get corrupted along the journey, that cannot be defiled by earthly distractions, and that will grow dim or dull with time.” In a couple conversations this week I have friends in the faith that have not found or started to lose an idea of how they were gifted and what they do with their calling. In this chapter of The Grand Weaver, Ravi explains three ways we can keep our calling in focus.

1. A Devout Prayer Life. Great! Anytime someone mentions in a book to “just pray about it,” I immediately get frustrated. Yes I want to pray about it, but it is hard to discern what to pray about. Back up. Sometimes I begin to think we need to just focus on our relationship with God. When we are in daily conversation with him he will reveal exactly what we need to know. I have found that as I enjoy a daily relationship more often, staying plugged into his will and his calling on my life is easier. What is it like to be his son or daughter right now? Are you enjoying being his child. Start talking to him, he loves to hear from you and about you.
2. The willingness to be outshone while shining for God. In a great story shared in this book a pastor had been praying for years that a revival would take place in his church. He ends up in the hospital for an extended time. During that extended stay a young pastor came and filled the pulpit. During this young pastors stay at the church the membership blew through the roof. To the point when the pastor got out of the hospital most people at this church did not even recognize him. Instead of being jealous of the growth while he was gone, he was excited to see how his prayers had been answered. When we are living in our gift we do not care how the God gets glorified, just that he gets glorified. Are you OK with being outshone?
3. Make certain you stay close to those who walk closely with God. Who do you associate with most of the week? Do you have relationships with people that are supporting you in your calling and asking an account of what you are doing with that gift? God has created the body of Christ to be a source of light to the world and a source of light to each other. In order to stay in the battle we have got to surround ourselves with people that encourage us and provide life in a dark world. Think about who you hear from most weeks. Are they dumping life into you or taking it out? If you do not have a good balance you will burn out and lose heart for your calling.
A burden, and then beckoning you as if to lure you into this great story that you and I could not design ourselves. I love it! I have enjoyed this week being led further into the calling that God designed for me. I have got to do some adjusting to make this unfold. I feel sad about some of the things he wants me to give up, but know the delight of walking into his plan for me is the adventure that I want to be a part of. As I have enjoyed many of the things going on in my life during this season, God has opened up the door for me to have a full time job. With that full time job comes more responsibility to be there with my children when I am at home. What I mean is be present emotionally and mentally. Not having been used to 50 hours of my week gone with employment the adjustment he is calling me into is tough. I want so much to do some of the things I was doing before, but cannot afford to give up the relationships with my children and wife. Fortunately I can trust he has already provided provisions for what is to come.
God Bless and I hope this blog finds you in good spirits.

The Best Gift Ever!

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was burried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. 1 Cor. 15:3-4

Today is somewhat like Christmas in that you have to wade through all the fluff and tradition to get to the real significance of the day. In typical fashion my kids are all about what the Easter Bunny is bringing them, and when is the easter egg hunt going to be already!? And sure, we have just come from church where we're all reminded of what this particular Sunday truly signifies. But is one day a year enough?

It's not about eggs, or rabbits, or chocolate, or those nasty Peeps. But it's also not simply that Jesus rose from the dead - though that is amazing itself. No, the significance is even deeper, even more profound, because were it not for the empty tomb, our faith is meaningless. The whole foundation of our faith rests on the 'hope' of that empty tomb. That Jesus conquered the grave and therefore gave us the offer of eternal life and the truth of the Kingdom to come. Had they found a body in the tomb after three days, Jesus would have been nothing more than a good teacher at best; a liar and madman at worst.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Rom. 8:11

It's not about the eggs. And it's much more than death and resurrection itself. I mean Lazarus was raised, yet we don't worship him. While we were still sinners, the Father allowed his only son to be a sacrifice for our sins so that we could have the free gift and offering of eternal life and fullness that only Christ can offer. And they even throw in the Holy Spirit to help guide us along the way. The Spirit powerful enough to raise a man from the dead. Oh, how much he could do through the lives of the living if we'd just take hold of that truth.

We hope that you had a wonderful Easter that extended well beyond an hour at church. We hope that you enjoyed and afternoon with family, friends, and love ones. And of "first importance", a hope that you thanked the One who, though we knew him not, nor deserved his gift, died so that we could simply have the offer of the Kingdom of Heaven.

What Is Your Calling?

Bob A. Clifton

One of my favorite discoveries in the faith was realizing that God created me with gifts. The idea that each person was different and had something to contribute to the world for God’s kingdom was unique to me. My understanding growing up was that I was a part of a family. Beyond that you worked and retired and died.

After my first spiritual gift inventory I was amazed. The way my spiritual gifts lined up was not how I was living my life. The more I thought about the concept, the more it made sense in regards to what I was attracted to doing. My introduction to spiritual gifts and calling was over ten years ago. Something that has been hitting me the last couple weeks is how God is maturing us and refining us to bring us into our gifts at a more specific level.

Early on it was this broad view of administration. I loved to plan events and make things happen for other people. It seemed to work well since most people dread the idea of planning something and seeing it come off. I loved being behind the spotlight and bringing people joy through my efforts without getting noticed. Since then that role has moved into working with men. I love it! I love seeing men get their hearts back and start fighting for their marriage and peers. Once again, at a broad level this has been on my mind for a couple years.

Some things to think about when looking for how God called you to make kingdom difference are:
Discern the difference between your calling, role, and assignment. Your calling is what God called you to do “big picture”. How you are using your spiritual gifts specifically for his kingdom. Our role is being a father, husband, son etc… Some people confuse their role with their calling. You are supposed to be great at all of these listed above, but God created you for a battle outside of your home also. The last is your assignment. Your assignment needs to match up with your calling. If you are called to preach the Word but work in finance, you should probably be asking God if there is any better suited place for your assignment to be.

Consider your strong desires. What kind of books do you like to look at when you go in the library? What do you seem to be drawn into when you are hanging out at home? Think this next what rises up in you throughout the week. What has historical context? Something over the years you continue to be drawn back into. What do the movies you like reveal about your desires? Don’t be afraid if you do not recognize your desires anymore. Often Satan has people so taken out they don’t know where they belong. Start the journey!

While I was at the Wild at Heart Advanced training something that lit up in me was the idea of my one on one time with guys. Once again, God bringing more specification as the maturity grows. As I thought about that it definitely has a historical context. I have been meeting one on one for years and I always love it. I am noticing recently that he is asking me to trim away things that are not as important. I think all of the things I am doing are good, but that does not make them the right thing to do. I also see the stories of desire in the movies when I think about flicks that portray people fighting for the freedom and hearts of others. Now God has even lined up my assignment at Ft. Riley military base to be doing exactly what I love in my calling.

Do you think through this very often? Do you see yourself as an intrical part of the bigger story that is unfolding here on earth?

Shoot me an email and let me know what you love about your calling.