Quick Bites: What We’re Not

If you had to describe yourself to someone who has never met you, what would you say? What do you say when you’re introduced to someone new? We usually give our name and what we do:
‘Hi, I’m Donnie, I’m an intergalactic overlord…and I’m also in IT…kidding. I’m also terribly weird and awkward at introductions, obviously.’
Let’s try that again: ‘Hi, I’m Donnie. I’m in IT, a fixer of broken stuff.’
I am _______. I do ________. It’s the standard introduction

Hebrews 10:39 (NKJV) “But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

It’s pretty standard, really. We have a list of stuff we do; we define ourselves by what we do, join social media groups based on what we do. But what don’t you do? It’s a subtle but powerful shift in thinking. When you start defining what your absolute No’s are, it more clearly emphasizes what your Yes’s are.

The writer of Hebrews defines what the No is, and then defines what the Yes is. We don’t draw back. That’s an absolute no go. Whatever it is that we do, we don’t draw back. And once the No is defined, it makes the Yes so much more obvious. We believe. We push forward. Since we don’t draw back, the path forward is clear- we believe, we push forward in faith. No matter what comes our way, we believe and salvation is our sure end.

What are your No’s? Take a moment to define five No’s for your life: the no go, no way, ain’t gonna happens for your life. Once those are clear, what are your five Yes counterpoints or antidotes for those No’s?

Quick Bites: Enduring

Honest Confession Time: I’m all about the promises, but I’m not all about enduring to get to them. I want the promise without the pain, reward without the trial, sunshine without the dark times of doubt and questions. I want sunny days and full harvests. The end.

Hebrews 6:15 (NKJV) “And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”

But in every hero story, both in literature and in the Bible, suffering comes before the singing, rain comes before the harvest, winter comes before the spring, battle comes before the victory. Abraham had to endure. He endured patiently. Jesus had to endure. King David had to endure. Paul had to endure. Your story is heroic. Choosing light over darkness is a heroic stand, and the seed of all great stories. Your story is a great story, and it ends with unimaginable victory.

Endure. Keep pushing forward. If you can’t push forward, then hold on to what you’ve got and stand. Do whatever it takes to stand with God your Savior. There is a promise on the other end of enduring.

Restart vs Starting All Over, or I Interrupt a Lot

“Stop. Stop the video,” my son instructed his sister. “Now we have to start over from the beginning.” You could hear the exasperation and disappointment in his voice.
“Oh, man. I’m so sorry guys,” I apologized.

My kids were making a video for one of their Youtube channels, and I had just interrupted their scripted scene. Mind you, they’re young and their scripted scene just looked like throwing stuff in the floor and jumping on the couch. I must have interrupted their filming 3 or 4 times. I was the Wreck it Ralph of YouTube recording.

Every time they’d get interrupted, my son would say, “Now we have to start over from the beginning.” It took me a minute before I understood what he meant. They would start their video over from the very beginning of their script every time something unexpected happened. A sound was weird- Start all over. Mom or Dad interrupted- Start all over. Something didn’t go right- Start all over.

Hebrews 6:10 (NKJV) “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

I chimed in, “You don’t have to start over. You can just pick up where you left off, and edit the videos together.”
“Really?” he asked. “Oh, man. That’s so much easier.”

Restarting is much easier than starting all over. Restarting is picking up where you left off. Somewhere along the line, I got it in my head that when I sin that I start over from scratch. I thought that’s how sin and forgiveness worked. I could be forgiven, but I thought forgiveness was resetting and starting all over, and all my good works up to that point was blown away. But that’s not how God works. He’s not unjust to forget what you’ve done. Forgiveness is a restart, not a reset.

When forgiveness is a reset, it’s easy to get disheartened like my son was getting, thinking that he had to start all over from the beginning. If you trip and fall in the parking lot at work, you don’t have to go all the way back to the door and start again, right? You get up where you are, dust yourself off, and keep walking to your car. Thank God, forgiveness is a restart. Forgiveness is getting picked up and cleaned up, and starting from where you left off.

Finding Your Purpose In Life: Simple Version

Maybe I’m the only weirdo out there who struggles with “What’s my purpose in life?” What’s that one thing I’m supposed to do? It’s a heavy question and that question can put a lot of pressure on you. If you struggle with the same questions, hopefully the following will help you and take some of the pressure off:

Titus 1:3 (NKJV) “…but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior…”– Emphasis mine
Matthew 25:14-15 (NKJV) “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.” Emphasis mine

Paul was given his specific purpose from God. On the road to Damascus, Paul had a supernatural experience. It was in that experience that the Lord Himself gave Paul his purpose in life- “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” Acts 9:15. If God has given you a specific task as He did Paul, the answer to ‘What is my purpose or mission in life’ is already answered. Good for you. Go forward and tackle your mission with all you’ve got. Maybe He’s only given you one piece of what to do: “Go there.” Ok, go there and read what follows.

Me- I keep waiting for one of those supernatural ‘This is what I’m supposed to do in life’ experiences. Maybe you’re doing the same thing. The problem is if we sit around waiting for that, we’re going to miss out completely. I think for most of us, or most of the time, we’re given talents, gifts, and abilities, and it’s up to us to make something of them. We scream out to God, “What is my purpose in life?”, and I think He answers, “I’ve given you talents. You show me what your purpose is.”

For me, that was a radical shift in thinking. “What is my purpose” is less a question to God, and more a question to myself. Do an inventory: what are your gifts, talents, and abilities? What are your interests? What do you want to do in life? Use the answers to those questions to answer the question that God is asking: “I’ve given you talents. What is the purpose of your life going to be?”

Stealing From the Best, or I Took Notes

Dr. Tim Hill was at our church this past Sunday to honor our pastor on Pastor Appreciation Day. We have a fantastic senior pastor, and it was fitting to have another outstanding man of God to be there to celebrate him on his special day. No funny stories, or witty analogies today. Just stealing some thoughts from Dr. Hill, and passing along some things he shared with us.

In 1 Samuel chapter 30, David is having one of the worst days of his life. Dr. Hill shared several things that David did, and he encouraged us to follow in those footsteps:

David wept. On the worst day of his life to that point, David wept. It’s OK to weep. We have a high priest that knows not just what we’re going through, but how it feels. Sometimes it hurts to heal. We’re not robots. We’re people and God created us with emotions. It’s OK to weep. David was a bad mama-jama, a warrior, a king among men, God’s anointed; David wept.
David waited on God. He didn’t rush off into battle. He waited until he heard from God and made sure he followed God’s will. Wait for God to direct you.
David worshiped. David wrote songs; he danced. Don’t let the enemy steal your worship even on your worst day.
David went to war. David recovered all that was taken because he went to war. Pray. Go to war using the weapons God has given us. Don’t sit idly by waiting for God to hand you everything back on a silver platter. You have a part to play. Go to war. Go to war for the things that matter: lost souls, your family, your children.
Win. David won and recovered all, and God can give you victory. God can let you recover things you thought were long gone and destroyed. The same God that gave David victory is the same God who’s Spirit dwells in you. Expect to win.