Do you know why God loves me today?

There are 7 flowers in bloom on my gardenia tree!  7 not 5 or 8.

My gardenia plant has no flowers in bloom.

I think I know the lesson God is trying to teach me today!

PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE – DAY 31 {UNDERSTANDING YOUR SHAPE}

Point to Ponder: Nobody else can be you.

Insight: God designed each of us so there would be no duplication in the world. No one has the exact same mix of factors that make us unique. That means no one else on earth will ever be able to play the role God planned for us. If we don’t make our unique contribution to the Body of Christ, it won’t be made.

 SHAPE: Applying Our Abilities

Spiritual gifts

Heart

Abilities

Personality

Experience

We discussed in Day 30 the spiritual gifts and the heart. Let’s look at the other three.

Our abilities are the natural talents we were born with. Some people have a natural ability with words. They come out of the womb talking! Other people have natural athletic abilities, excelling in physical coordination. Still others are good at mathematics or music or mechanics.

All our abilities are from God – Even abilities used to sin are God-given; they are being misused or abused. Since our natural abilities are from God, they are just as important and as “spiritual” as our spiritual gifts. The only difference is that we were given them at birth.

One of the most common excuses people give for not serving is “I just don’t have any abilities to offer.” This is ridiculous. We have dozens, probably hundreds of untapped, unrecognized, and unused abilities that are lying dormant inside of us. We are a bundle of incredible abilities, an amazing creation of God. Part of the church’s responsibility is to identify and release our abilities for serving God.

Every ability can be used for God’s glory – Here are just a few of those mentioned in Scripture: artistic ability, architectural, administering, baking, boat making, candy making, debating, designing, embalming, embroidering, engraving, farming, fishing, gardening, leading, managing, masonry, making music, making weapons, needle work, painting, sailing, selling, being a soldier, tailoring, teaching, writing literature or poetry.

God has a place in His church where our specialties can shine and we can make a difference. It’s up to us to find that place.

What I’m able to do, God wants me to do – We are the only person on earth who can use our abilities. No one else can play our role, because they don’t have the unique shape that God has given us. If God hasn’t given us the ability to carry a tune, He isn’t going to expect us to be an opera singer. God will never ask us to dedicate our life to a task that we have no talent for. On the other hand, the abilities we do have are a strong indication of what God wants us to do with our life. They are clues to knowing God’s will for us. God doesn’t waste abilities; he matches our calling and capabilities. Our abilities were not given to us to make a living; God gave them to us for our ministry.

SHAPE: Using Our Personality

Our unique DNA is a scientific fact of life. It is obvious that God loves variety—just look around! He created each of us with a unique combination of personality traits. God made introverts and extroverts. He made people who love routines and those who love variety. He made some people “thinkers” and others “feelers.” Some people work best when given an individual assignment while others work better with a team.

The Bible gives us plenty of proof that God uses all types of personalities. Peter was sanguine. Paul was choleric. Jeremiah was melancholic. There is no “right” or “wrong” temperament for ministry. The world would be a very boring place if we were all plain vanilla. Your personality will affect how and where you use your spiritual gifts and abilities.

SHAPE: Employing Our Experiences

We have been shaped by our experiences in life, most of which were beyond our control. God allowed them for His purpose of molding us. In determining our shape for serving God, we should examine at least 6 kinds of experiences from our past:

• Family experiences: What did we learn growing up our family?
• Educational experiences: What were our favorite subjects in school?
• Vocational experiences: What jobs have we been most effective in and enjoyed most?
• Spiritual experiences: What have been our most meaningful times with God?
• Ministry experiences: How have you served God in the past?
• Painful experiences: What problems, hurts, thorns, and trials have we learned from?

It is this last category, painful experiences, that God used the most to prepare us for our ministry. God never wastes a hurt! In fact, our greatest ministry will most likely come out of our greatest hurts. Who could better help an alcoholic recover than someone who fought that demon and found freedom? Who could better comfort a wife whose husband has left her for an affair than a woman who went through that agony herself? God allow us to go through painful experiences to equip us for ministry to others.

If we really desire to be used by God, we must understand a powerful truth: The very experiences that we have resented or regretted the most in life—the one’s we’ve wanted to hide and forget—are experiences God wants to use to help others. They are our ministry!

For God to use our painful experiences, we must be willing to share them. We have to stop covering them up, and we must honestly admit our faults, failures, and fears. People are always more encouraged when we share how God’s grace helped us in weakness than when we brag about our strengths. Only shared experiences can help others.

What will we do with what we’ve been through? Don’t waste our pain; use it to help others? We will be most effective when we use our spiritual gifts and abilities in the area of heart’s desire, and in a way that best expresses our personality and experiences.

My thoughts: As I write I am reminded that I always told people that I hated writing. I rather have a tooth pulled without Novocain than to write. I guess God had other plans for me. Although I don’t consider myself a good writer, He has used my raw writing abilities to tell people my story. I know it has had an impact on others when I share from my heart. That paired with my personality, has helped me to open myself to others that might have similar personal experiences as mine. This is the part where I know God has been doing a deep cleansing to refine me as pure gold and bring a lot of my impurities out and to help me understand His way and share from the deepest part of my heart, my spirit and my soul. I know a book is in the future and perhaps a speaking tour, even though I prefer to be a behind the scene person. He knows!

More on Purpose Driven Life.

Tina "Woogie" Woelke

"Dear Don,

   You know the first time I met you, I fell in love with you.  I was not all that dumb.  3 years have passed & I still love you.  Don, you know I've tried to tell you this time & time again, how much you matter to me, but it never seemed to work.  You're one person I'll remember for the rest of my life ~ I swear it.  Please, always be my friend!  If you and I separate, I'll die.  We've been through so much together ~ I NEED YOU.

Love forever,

Tina "Woogie"

Can you believe Tina was able to write all that on that back of her high school picture?  THAT is an example of just how amazing Tina is.

Tina is the first girl I ever kissed.  It was downstairs in the basement of the Jacob's house.  Oops!  I was not suppose to kiss and tell.  Tina and I used to write notes to each other before class, during class, after class, after school.  Up until two years ago, I had every note that Tina had ever written me.  When I was moving, the box with her letters got thrown away by mistake.  I cried for days. Tina and I went to my senior prom together.  Before the term "BFF" existed, Tina and I agreed to be best friends forever.  I have not seen Tina for over thirty years but I remember my first kiss as if it was just yesterday!

I love you Tina!

P.S.  Tina and I are facebook friends too.

In what way can I see myself passionately serving others and loving it?

OR

OR

By the way, THAT is not my purple lunch box.  Look at the hands, you can clearly see that Maria is holding it.  She better not take her hand or eyes off though.  Just Kidding.  The young man in between Randy Sparks and me is Joche Sanche.  God used me to help lead Joche to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  It broke my heart that I had to leave Joche in the Dominican Republic.  He wanted to come home with me.  I told him that he could not come to my temporary home.  Although I would have in a heart beat, the Dominican Republic does not allow it.  However, we would live forever in God's eternal home which was much, much better.

Ask Laurie Tinoly how heart wrenching it was for her and me to leave?

In what better way could I see myself passionately serving others and loving it?

Purpose Driven Life Day 30

Shaped for serving God.

you were shaped to serve God.

God formed every creature on this planet with a speical area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play, based on on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us was uniquely designed, or shaped to do certain things.

Before architects design any new building they first ask, "what will be its purpose? How will it be used?" The inteded function always determines the form of the building. Before God created you, he decided what role he wanted you to play on earth. He planned exactly how he wanted you to serve him, and then he shapedy ou for those tasks. You are the way you are because you were made for a specific ministry.

God never wastes anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality and life experiences unless he intended to use them for his glory. By identifying and understanding these factors you acn discover God's will for your life.

Whenever God gives us an assignment, he always equips us with what we need to accomplish it. This custom combination of capabilitiesi s called your SHAPE:

Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience

God gives every believer spiritual gifts to be used in ministry. These are special God-empowered abilities for serving him that are given only to believers.

You can't earn your spiritual gifts or deserve them-that's why they are called gifts! They are an experssion of God's grace to you.

Because God loves variety and he wants us tobe special, no single gift is given to everyone. Also, no individual receives all the gifts. If you had them all, you'd have no need of anyone else, and that would defeat one of the God's purpose-to teach us to love and depend on each other.

The Bible uses the term "heart" to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams and affections you have. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations-what you love to do and waht you care about most.

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Point to ponder: I was haped for serving God.

Verse to remember: " God works through different men in different ways, but it is the same God who achieves his purposes through them all." 1 Corinthians 12:6

Question to consider: In what way can I see myself passionately serving others and loving it?

Amy Rosenbaum

As I am going through my wallet, I found a picture of Amy Rosenbaum.  Amy has been an amazing blessing to me within these past two years.  This is what she wrote to me on the back of her high school picture.

"Donnie,

   You're the best little brother I could ever ask for.  Stay the way you are forever cause we all know you and love you that way!

Love,  Amy"

In case of emergency, Amy was my primary contact during my open heart surgery.  She lives in Marina Del Ray and is very close to West LA.  After not talking to her for a decade or two, Amy was more than willing to come to my aid.

Now that is a wonderful friend!

I love you Amy!
       

Diane Crawford

I Really wish I knew how to post the picture of one of my high school Madrigal partners.  Diane Crawford is absolutely beautiful and she has an amazing voice.  I still carry her picture in my wallet.  This is what she wrote on the back of her senior picture. 

"Donnie,

   (My Madrigal partner.)  I don't mind sharing you with Marianne!  HA!  Choir's been a lot of fun this year, so much I wish I wasn't graduating.  Take care & Keep in touch!

Love, Diane '75"

Marianne was unable to attend the international madrigal competition in Mexico so Diane went in her place.  I think I was the only male madrigal to ever have had four partners.  I used to brag that I always had the female with the best voice of the eight girls.  Years after graduating, I asked Mr. Dobler, the Madrigal Director why he always gave me the most talented girls.  His answer.  "I always put the strongest female voices with the weakest male voices and visa versa.  Everyone blended much better that way."

If anyone knows the whereabouts of Diane, please tell her that I miss her and would love to reconnect and this time "Stay" in touch.

Creating My Own Assignment

What is your image of heaven?  How many angels are singing "Holy, Holy, Holy"?  How many of your dearly departed friends and family are waiting for the day you come home to spend eternity?  I could go on and on but I think you get the idea.

Well, whatever you were thinking, on this particular day of my journey on the purpose driven life, I imagine all those ROFL.

ROFL?  You ask.

Rolling On the Floor Laughing.  I laugh.

Everyone is not laughing at me.  Everyone is laughing with me.

I believe I have written about this once or twice.  The assignment I created for myself is when I won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and a few other less known awards, I HUMBLY walk up to the podium and say,"There is only ONE I would like to thank (pause)  (wait for it, wait for it)  I would like to thank Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Instead of a standing ovation, everyone gets down on their knees (Yes, even in those evening gowns and $3000.00 tuxedos), repents and my new brothers and sisters work with love and harmony and we live happily ever after.

Please feel free to ROFL with us!

DAY 29 Accepting Your Assignment

It is God himself who has made us whatwe are and given us new livesfrom Christ Jesus; and long ages agohe planned that we should spendthese lives in helping others.

Ephesians 2:10 (LB)

I glorified you on earth by completing downto the last detail what you assigned me to do.

John 17:4 (Msg)

You were put on earth to make a contribution.
You weren't created just to consume resources-to eat, breathe, and take up space. God designed you to make a difference with your life. While many best-selling books offer advice on how to `get" the most out of life, that's not the reason God made you. You were created to add to life on earth, not just take from it. God wants you to give something back. This is God's fourth purpose for your life, and it is called your "ministry," or service. The Bible gives us the details.
You were created to serve God. The Bible says, "[God] has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do." These "good deeds" are your service. Whenever you serve others in any way, you are actually serving God and fulfilling one of your purposes. In the next two chapters you will see how God has carefully shaped you for this purpose. What God told Jeremiah is also true for you: "Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work." You were placed on this planet for a special assignment.
You were saved to serve God. The Bible says, "It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work, not because we deserved it but because that was his plan. "4 God redeemed you so you could do his "holy work." You're not saved by service, but you are saved for service. In God's kingdom, you have a place, a purpose, a role, and a function to fulfill. This gives your life great significance and value.
It cost Jesus his own life to purchase your salvation. The Bible reminds us, "God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God." We don't serve God out of guilt or fear or even duty, but out of joy, and deep gratitude for what he's done for us. We owe him our lives. Through salvation our past has been forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured. In light of these incredible benefits Paul concluded, `Because of God's great mercy ... Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service."
The apostle John taught that our loving service to others shows that we are truly saved. He said, "Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life." If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, and I'm only concerned about my needs, I should question whether Christ is really in my life. A saved heart is one that wants to serve.
Another term for serving God that's misunderstood by most people is the word ministry. When most people hear "ministry," they think of pastors, priests, and professional clergy, but God says every member of his family is a minister. In the Bible, the words servant and minister are synonyms, as are service and ministry. If you are a Christian, you are a minister, and when you're serving, you're ministering.
When Peter's sick mother-in-law was healed by Jesus, she instantly "stood up and began to serve Jesus," using her new gift of health. This is what we're to do. We are healed to help others. We are blessed to be a blessing. We are saved to serve, not to sit around and wait for heaven.
Have you ever wondered why God doesn't just immediately take us to heaven the moment we accept his grace? Why does he leave us in a fallen world? He leaves us here to fulfill his purposes. Once you are saved, God intends to use you for his goals. God has a ministry for you in his church and a mission for you in the world.
You are called to serve God. Growing up, you may have thought that being "called" by God was something only missionaries, pastors, nuns, and other "full-time" church workers experienced, but the Bible says every Christian is called to service. Your call to salvation included your call to service. They are the same. Regardless of your job or career, you are called to full-time Christian service. A "non-serving Christian" is a contradiction in terms.
The Bible says, "He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose." Peter adds, "You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you. " Anytime you use your God-given abilities to help others, you are fulfilling your calling.
The Bible says, "Now you belong to him ... in order that we might be useful in the service of God." How much of the time are you being useful in the service of God? In some churches in China, they welcome new believers by saying "Jesus now has a new pair of eyes to see with, new ears to listen with, new hands to help with, and a new heart to love others with."
One reason why you need to be connected to a church family is to fulfill your calling to serve other believers in practical ways. The Bible says, "All of you together are Christ's body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it." Your service is desperately needed in the Body of Christ-just ask any local church. Each of us has a role to play, and every role is important. There is no small service to God; it all matters.
Likewise, there are no insignificant ministries in the church. Some are visible and some are behind the scenes, but all are valuable. Small or hidden ministries often make the biggest difference. In my home, the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room but the little night light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night. There is no correlation between size and significance. Every ministry matters because we are all dependent on each other to function.
What happens when one part of your body fails to function? You get sick. The rest of your body suffers. Imagine if your liver decided to start living for itself: "I'm tired! I don't want to serve the body anymore! I want a year off just to be fed. I've got to do what's best for me! Let some other part take over." What would happen? Your body would die. Today thousands of local churches are dying because of Christians who are unwilling to serve. They sit on the sidelines as spectators, and the Body suffers.
You are commanded to serve God. Jesus was unmistakable: "Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life." For Christians, service is not optional, something to be tacked onto our schedules if we can spare the time. It is the heart of the Christian life. Jesus came "to serve" and "to give"-and those two verbs should define your life on earth, too. Serving and giving sum up God's fourth purpose for your life. Mother Teresa once said, "Holy living consists in doing God's work with a smile."
Jesus taught that spiritual maturity is never an end in itself. Maturity is for ministry! We grow up in order to give out. It is not enough to keep learning more and more. We must act on what we
know and practice what we claim to believe. Impression without expression causes depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation. The old comparison between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is still true. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but also gives it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow, the lake has stagnated.
The last thing many believers need today is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice. What they need are serving experiences in which they can exercise their spiritual muscles.
Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination. Most of the time we're more interested in "serve us" than service. We say, "I'm looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me," not "I'm looking for a place to serve and be a blessing." We expect others to serve us, not vice versa. But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service. The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, "Who's going to meet my needs?" and starts asking, "Whose needs can I meet?" Do you ever ask that question?
PREPARING FOR ETERNITY
At the end of your life on earth you will stand before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life.
Spiritual maturity is neveran end in itself. We grow upin order to give out.
The Bible says, "Each of us will have to give a personal account to God."' Think about the implications of that. One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.
At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: "I was too busy" or "I had my own goals" or "I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement." To all excuses God will respond, "Sorry, wrong answer. I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?" The Bible warns unbelievers, "He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves," but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards.
We are only fully alive when we're helping others. Jesus said, "If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live." This truth is so important that it is repeated five times in the Gospels. If you aren't serving, you're just existing, because life is meant for ministry. God wants you to learn to love and serve others unselfishly.
SERVICE AND SIGNIFICANCE
You are going to give your life for something. What will it be­ a career, a sport, a hobby, fame, wealth? None of these will have lasting significance. Service is the pathway to real significance. It is through ministry that we discover the meaning of our lives. The Bible says, `Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body.”
As we serve together in God's family, our lives take on eternal importance. Paul said, "I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less ... because of what you are a part of."
God wants to use you to make a difference in his world. He wants to work through you. What matters is not the duration of your life, but the donation of it. Not how long you lived, but how you lived.
If you're not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service. He will use you, too, if you stop making excuses.
Service is the pathwayto real significance.

DAY TWENTY-NINE THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE

Point to Ponder: Service is not optional.
Verse to Remember: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
Question to Consider: What is holding me back from accepting God's call to serve him?

It Takes Time

What I hear is that there still is hope for me.

 Purpose Driven Life Day 28

It takes time.

There are no shortcuts to maturity.

It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. The development of Christlike character cannot be rushed. Spiritual growth, like physical growth takes time.

When you try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. In American, tomatoes are usually picked unripened so they won't bruise during shipping to the stores. Then before they are sold those green tomatoes are sprayed with CO2 gas to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they are no match to the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato that is allowed to mature slowly.

The moment you open yourself to Christ, God gets a beachhead in your life. You may think you have surrendered all your life to him, but the truth is there is a lot to your life tht you aren't even aware of. You can only give God as much of you as you understand at the moment. It's okay. Once Christ is given a beachhead, he begins the campaign to take over more and mroe territory until all of your life is completely his. There will be struggles and battles but the outcome will never be in doubt.

Today we're obsessed with speed, but God is more interested in strength and stability than swiftness. We want the quick fix, teh shortcut, the on-the-spot solution. We want a sermon, a seminar, or an experience that will instantly resolve all problems, remove all tempation and release us from all groing pains. But real maturity is never teh result of a single experienc,e no matter how powerful or moving. Growith is gradual.

Although God could instantly transform us, he has chosen to develop us slowly. Jesis is deliberate in developing his disciples. Just as God allowed the Israelites to take over the Promised Land "little by little" so they wouldn't be overwhelmed, he prefers to work in incremental steps in our lives.

Why does it take so long to change and grow up? There are several reasons.

We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a elsson forty or fifty times to really get it. The problems keep recurring, and we think, " not again! I've learned that!" but God knows better.

We have a lot to unlearn. Many people go to a counselor with a personal or relational problem that took years to develop and say " I need you to fix me. I've got an hour:. They naively expect a quick solution to a long-standing, deep-rooted difficulty. Since most of our problems- and all of our bad habits-didn't develop overnight, its unrealistic to expect them to go away immediately. There is no pill, prayer, or principle taht will instantly undo the damage of many years.

We are afraid to humbly face the truth about ourselves. I have already pointed out that the truth will set us free but it often makes us miserable first. The fear of what we might discover if we honestly faced our character defects keeps us living in the prison of denial.

Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without change; there is no change wihtout fear or loss; and there is no loss without pian. Every change involves a loss of some kind: You must let go of old ways in order to experience the new.

Habits take time to develop. Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits. You can't claim to be kind unless you are habitually kind-you show kindness without even thinking about it. You can't claim to have integrity unless it is your habit to always be honest.

Believe God is working in your life even when you don't feel it. Spiritual growth is sometiems tedious work, one small step at a time. Expect gradual improvement.

Keep a notebook or journal of lessons learned. This is not a diary of events, but a record of what you are learning. Write down the insights and life lessons God teaches you about him, about yourself, about life, relationships, and everything else. Record these so you can review and remember them and pass them on to the next generation.

Be patient with God and with yourself. One of life's furstrrations is that God's timetable is raeley the same as ours. We are often in a hurry when God isn't. You may feel frustrated with teh seemingly slow progress you're making in life. Remember that God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time. He will use your entire lifetime to prepare you for your role in eternity.

Don't get discouraged. Remember how far you've come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be. Years ago people wore a popular button with the letters PBPGINFWMY. It stood for "Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet". God isnt' finsihed with you either, so keep on moving forward, even the snail reached the ark by perserving!
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point to ponder: There are no shortcuts to maturity.

Verse to remember: " God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again." Philippians 1:6

Question to consider: In what area of my spiritual growth do I need to be more patient and persistent?

Ode to Uncle Floyd

When I was just a youngster
   My Grandpa put me on his knee
He told me all about you
   How you were killed oversea

Others tell me that I look like you
   "Looks like Floyd" they shout with glee
Your death broke my Grandpa's heart
   His oldest gone, he turned to beer and whiskey

When we go to "The Garden" to visit you
   You are buried under that tree
In your memory they planted it
   A reminder of your life to keep us free

As I gaze into the mirror
   I wonder who I see
Is that my Uncle Floyd
   who fought for you and me?

I love you Uncle Floyd.  Please say hello to Grandpa.  It is nice to see that he does not have a broken heart anymore.

Happy Memorial Day!

Purpose Driven Life written by Rick Warren

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Day 27 Defeating Temptation

Run from anything that gives you theevil thoughts ... but stay close to anythingthat makes you want to do right.

2 Timothy' 2:22 (LB)

Remember that the temptations that comeinto your life are no different from what othersexperience. And God is faithful. He will keepthe temptation from becoming so strongthat you can't stand up against it.When you are tempted, he will show youa way out so that you will not give in to it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

There is always a way out.
You may sometimes feel that a temptation is too overpowering for you to bear, but that's a lie from Satan. God has promised never to allow more on you than lie puts within you to handle it. He will not permit any temptation that you could not overcome. However, you must do your part too by practicing four biblical keys to defeating temptation.
The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind. Whatever gets your attention will get you.

Refocus your attention on something else. It may surprise you that nowhere in the Bible are we told to "resist temptation." We are told to "resist the devil,' I but that is very different, as I'll explain later. Instead, we are advised to refocus our attention because resisting a thought doesn't work. It only intensifies our focus on the wrong thing and strengthens its allure. Let me explain:
Every time you try to block a thought out of your mind, you drive it deeper into your memory. By resisting it, you actually reinforce it. This is especially true with temptation. You don't defeat temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight a feeling, the more it consumes and controls you. You strengthen it every time you think it.
Since temptation always begins with a thought, the quickest way to neutralize its allure is to turn your attention to something else. Don't fight the thought, just change the channel of your mind and get interested in another idea. This is the first step in defeating temptation.
The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind. Whatever gets your attention will get you. That's why job said, "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman." And David prayed, "Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless."
Have you ever watched a food advertisement on television and suddenly felt you were hungry? Have you ever heard someone cough and immediately felt the need to clear your throat? Ever watched someone release a big yawn and felt the urge to yawn yourself? (You may be yawning right now as you read this!) That is the power of suggestion. We naturally move toward whatever we focus our attention on. The more you think about something, the stronger it takes hold of you.
That is why repeating "I must stop eating too much ... or stop smoking ... or stop lusting" is a self-defeating strategy. It keeps you focused on what you don't want. It's like announcing, "I'm never going to do what my mom did." You are setting yourself up to repeat it.
Most diets don't work because they keep you thinking about food all the time, guaranteeing that you'll be hungry. In the same way, a speaker who keeps repeating to herself, "Don't be nervous!" sets herself up to be nervous! Instead she should focus on anything except her feelings-on God, on the importance of her speech, or on the needs of those listening.
Temptation begins by capturing your attention. What gets your attention arouses your emotions. Then your emotions activate your behavior, and you act on what you felt. The more you focus on "I don't want to do this," the stronger it draws you into its web.
Ignoring a temptation is far more effective than fighting it. Once your mind is on something else, the temptation loses its power. So when temptation calls you on the phone, don't argue with it, just hang up!
Sometimes this means physically leaving a tempting situation. This is one time it is okay to run away. Get up and turn off the television set. Walk away from a group that is gossiping. Leave the theater in the middle of the movie. To avoid being stung, stay away from the bees. Do whatever is necessary to turn your attention to something else.
Spiritually, your mind is your most vulnerable organ. To reduce temptation, keep your mind occupied with God's Word and other good thoughts. You defeat bad thoughts by thinking of something better. This is the principle of replacement. You overcome evil with good. Satan can't get your attention when your mind is preoccupied with something else. That's why the Bible repeatedly tells us to keep our minds focused: "Fix your thoughts on Jesus."5 "Always think about Jesus Christ."
"Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable."
If you're serious about defeating temptation you must manage your mind and monitor your media intake. The wisest man who ever lived warned, `Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." Don't allow trash into your mind indiscriminately. Be selective. Choose carefully what you think about. Follow Paul's model: "We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ." This takes a lifetime of practice, but with the help of the Holy Spirit you can reprogram the way you think.
Reveal your struggle to a godly friend or support group. You don't have to broadcast it to the whole world, but you need at least one person you can honestly share your struggles with. The Bible says, "You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone.... If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble."
Let me be clear: If you're losing the battle against a persistent bad habit, an addiction, or a temptation, and you're stuck in a repeating cycle of good intention-failure-guilt, you will not get better on your own! You need the help of other people. Some temptations are only overcome with the help of a partner who prays for you, encourages you, and holds you accountable.
God's plan for your growth and freedom includes other Christians. Authentic, honest fellowship is the antidote to your lonely struggle against those sins that won't budge. God says it is the only way you're going to break free: "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
Do you really want to be healed of that persistent temptation that keeps defeating you over and over? God's solution is plain:
Don't repress it; confess it! Don't conceal it; reveal it. Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.
Hiding your hurt only intensifies it. Problems grow in the dark and become bigger and bigger, but when exposed to the light of truth, they shrink. You are only as sick as your secrets. So take off your mask, stop pretending you're perfect, and walk into freedom.
At Saddleback Church we have seen the awesome power of this principle to break the grip of seemingly hopeless addictions and persistent temptations through a program we developed called Celebrate Recovery. It is a biblical, eight-step recovery process based on the Beatitudes of Jesus and built around small support groups. In the past ten years over 5,000 lives have been set free from all kinds of habits, hurts, and addictions. Today the program is used in thousands of churches. I highly recommend it for your church.
Satan wants you to think that your sin and temptation are unique so you must keep them a secret. The truth is, we're all in the same boat. We all fight the same temptations, and "all of us have sinned." Millions have felt what you're feeling and have faced the same struggles you're facing right now.
The reason we hide our faults is pride. We want others to think we have everything "under control." The truth is, whatever you can't talk about is already out of control in your life: problems with your finances, marriage, kids, thoughts, sexuality, secret habits, or anything else. If you could handle it on your own, you would have already done so. But you can't. Willpower and personal resolutions aren't enough.
Some problems are too ingrained, too habitual, and too big to solve on your own. You need a small group or an accountability Partner who will encourage you, support you, pray for you, love you unconditionally, and hold you accountable. Then you can do the same for them.


The truth is, whatever you can'ttalk about is already outof control in your life.

Whenever someone confides to me, "I've never told this to anyone until now," I get excited for that person because I know they are about to experience great relief and liberation. The pressure valve is going to be released, and for the first time they are going to see a glimmer of hope for their future. It always happens when we do what God tells us to do by admitting our struggles to a godly friend.
Let me ask you a tough question: What are you pretending isn't a problem in your life? What are you afraid to talk about? You're not going to solve it on your own. Yes, it is humbling to admit our weaknesses to others, but lack of humility is the very thing that is keeping you from getting better. The Bible says, "God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble. So humble yourselves before God."
Resist the Devil. After we have humbled ourselves and submitted to God, we are then told to defy the Devil. The rest of James 4:7 says, "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.' We don't passively resign ourselves to his attacks. We are to fight back.
The New Testament often describes the Christian life as a spiritual battle against evil forces, using war terms such as fight, conquer, strive, and overcome. Christians are often compared to soldiers serving in enemy territory.
How can we resist the Devil? Paul tells us, "Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." The first step is to accept God's salvation. You won't be able to say no to the Devil unless you've said yes to Christ. Without Christ we are defenseless against the Devil, but with "the helmet of salvation" our minds are protected by God. Remember this: If you are a believer, Satan cannot force you to do anything. He can only suggest.
Second, you must use the Word of God as your weapon against Satan. Jesus modeled this when he was tempted in the wilderness. Every time Satan suggested a temptation, Jesus countered by quoting Scripture. He didn't argue with Satan. He didn't say, "I'm not hungry," when tempted to use his power to meet a personal need. He simply quoted Scripture from memory. We must do the same. There is power in God's Word, and Satan fears it.
Don't ever try to argue with the Devil. He's better at arguing than you are, having had thousands of years to practice. You can't bluff Satan with logic or your opinion, but you can use the weapon that makes him tremble-the truth of God. This is why memorizing Scripture is absolutely essential to defeating temptation. You have quick access to it whenever you're tempted. Like Jesus, you have the truth stored in your heart, ready to be remembered.
If you don't have any Bible verses memorized, you've got no bullets in your gun! I challenge you to memorize one verse a week for the rest of your life. Imagine how much stronger you'll be.
Realize your vulnerability. God warns us never to get cocky and overconfident; that is the recipe for disaster. Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond Cure. That means we are good at fooling ourselves. Given the right circumstances, any of us are capable of any sin. We must never let down our guard and think we're beyond temptation.
Don't carelessly place yourself in tempting situations. Avoid them. Remember that it is easier to stay out of temptation than to get out of it. The Bible says, "Don't be so naive and self-­confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence. "
Don't ever try to argue with theDevil. He's better at arguingthan you are, having hadthousands of years to practice.

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE

Point to Ponder: There is always a way out.

Verse to Remember: "God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
1 Corinthians 10:13b (NLT)

Question to Consider: Who could I ask to be a spiritual partner to help me defeat a persistent temptation by praying for me?

Top Three Addictions

My top three Addictions used to be:

1)  Alcohol/Drugs

2)  Same Sex Attraction

3)  Gambling

I am a transformed man.  My new top three addictions are:

1)  Working in my garden

2)  Buying frames to place pictures of friends and family

3)  Creating water worlds with God

I can be self-righteous about cigarettes and coffee.  Never had those. LOL

Day 26 Growing through Temptation

Day 26 Growing through Temptation

Happy is the man who doesn't give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get as his reward the crown of life that God has promised those who love him.

James 1:12 (LB)

My temptations have beenmy masters in divinity.

Martin Luther

Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.
On the path to spiritual maturity, even temptation becomes a stepping-stone rather than a stumbling block when you realize that it is just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing. Temptation simply provides the choice. While temptation is Satan's primary weapon to destroy you, God wants to use it to develop you. Every time you choose to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ.
To understand this, you must first identify the character qualities of Jesus. One of the most concise descriptions of his character is the fruit of the Spirit: "When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self­ control."
These nine qualities are an expansion of the Great Commandment and portray a beautiful description of Jesus Christ. Jesus is perfect love, joy, peace, patience, and all the other fruit embodied in a single person. To have the fruit of the Spirit is to be like Christ.
How, then, does the Holy Spirit produce these nine fruit in your life? Does he create them instantly? Will you wake up one day and be suddenly filled with these characteristics fully developed? No. Fruit always matures and ripens slowly.
This next sentence is one of the most important spiritual truths you will ever learn: God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality! Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.
For instance, God teaches us love by putting some unlovely people around us. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving to you. God teaches us real joy in the midst of sorrow, when we turn to him. Happiness depends on external circumstances, but joy is based on your relationship to God.
God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion. Anyone can be peaceful watching a beautiful sunset or relaxing on vacation. We learn real peace by choosing to trust God in circumstances in which we are tempted to worry or be afraid. Likewise, patience is developed in circumstances in which we're forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or have a short fuse.
God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice. You can't claim to be good if you've never been tempted to be bad. You can't claim to be faithful if you've never had the opportunity to be unfaithful. Integrity is built by defeating the temptation to be dishonest; humility grows when we refuse to be prideful; and endurance develops every time you reject the temptation to give up. Every time you defeat a temptation, you become more like Jesus!

HOW TEMPTATION WORKS

It helps to know that Satan is entirely predictable. He has used the same strategy and old tricks since Creation. All temptations follow the same the pattern. That's why Paul said, "We are very familiar with his evil schemes." From the Bible we learn that temptation follows a four-step process, which Satan used both on Adam and Eve and on Jesus.
In step one, Satan identifies a desire inside of you. It may be a sinful desire, like the desire to get revenge or to control others, or it may be a legitimate, normal desire, like the desire to be loved and valued or to feel pleasure. Temptation starts when Satan suggests (with a thought) that you give in to an evil desire, or that you fulfill a legitimate desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time. Always beware of shortcuts. They are often temptations! Satan whispers, "You deserve it! You should have it now! It will be exciting ... comforting ... or make you feel better."
We think temptation lies around us, but God says it begins within us. If you didn't have the internal desire, the temptation could not attract you. Temptation always starts in your mind, not in circumstances. Jesus said, "For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within." James tells us that there is "a whole army of evil desires within you."
God develops the fruit of theSpirit by allowing you toexperience circumstances inwhich you're tempted to expressthe exact opposite quality!

Step two is doubt. Satan tries to get you to doubt what God has said about the sin: Is it really wrong? Did God really say not to do it? Didn't God mean this prohibition for someone else or some other time? Doesn't God want me to be happy? The Bible warns, "Watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God."
Step three is deception. Satan is incapable of telling the truth and is called "the Father of lies." Anything he tells you will be untrue or just half-true. Satan offers his lie to replace what God has already said in his Word. Satan says, "You will not die. You'll be wiser like God. You can get away with it. No one will ever know. It will solve your problem. Besides, everyone else is doing it. It is only a little sin." But a little sin is like being a little pregnant: It will eventually show itself.
We think temptation liesaround us, but God saysit begins within us.
Step four is disobedience. You finally act on the thought you've been toying with in your mind. What began as an idea gets birthed into behavior. You give in to whatever got your attention. You believe Satan's lies and fall into the trap that James warns about: "We are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my dear friends!"
OVERCOMING TEMPTATION

Understanding how temptation works is in itself helpful, but there are specific steps you need to take to overcome it.
Refuse to be intimidated. Many Christians are frightened and demoralized by tempting thoughts, feeling guilty that they aren't "beyond" temptation. They feel ashamed just for being tempted. This is a misunderstanding of maturity. You will never outgrow temptation.
In one sense you can consider temptation a compliment. Satan does not have to tempt those who are already doing his evil will; they are already his. Temptation is a sign that Satan hates you, not a sign of weakness or worldliness. It is also a normal part of being human and living in a fallen world. Don't be surprised or shocked or discouraged by it. Be realistic about the inevitability of temptation; you will never be able to avoid it completely. The Bible says, "When you're tempted, . . . " not if. Paul advises, "Remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience."
It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted, yet he never sinned. Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it. Martin Luther said, "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair." You can't keep the Devil from suggesting thoughts, but you can choose not to dwell or act on them.
For example, many people don't know the difference between physical attraction or sexual arousal, and lust. They are not the same. God made every one of us a sexual being, and that is good. Attraction and arousal are the natural, spontaneous, God-given responses to physical beauty, while lust is a deliberate act of the will. Lust is a choice to commit in your mind what you'd like to do with your body. You can be attracted or even aroused without choosing to sin by lusting. Many people, especially Christian men, feel guilty that their God-given hormones are working. When they automatically notice an attractive woman, they assume it is lust and feel ashamed and condemned. But attraction is not lust until you begin to dwell on it.
Actually, the closer you grow to God, the more Satan will try to tempt you. The moment you became God's child, Satan, like a mobster hit man, put out a "contract" on you. You are his enemy, and he's plotting your downfall.
Sometimes while you are praying, Satan will suggest a bizarre or evil thought just to distract you and shame you. Don't be alarmed or ashamed by this, but realize that Satan fears your prayers and will try anything to stop them. Instead of condemning yourself with "How could I think such a thought?" treat it as a distraction from Satan and immediately refocus on God.

Temptation is a sign that Satan hates you, not a sign of weakness or worldliness.

Recognize your pattern of temptation and be prepared for it. There are certain situations that make you more vulnerable to temptation than others. Some circumstances will cause you to stumble almost immediately, while others don't bother you much. These situations are unique to your weaknesses, and you need to identify them because Satan surely knows them! He knows exactly what trips you up, and he is constantly working to get you into those circumstances. Peter warns, "Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping."
Ask yourself, "When am I most tempted? What day of the week? What time of day?" Ask, "Where am I most tempted? At work? At home? At a neighbor's house? At a sports bar? In an airport or motel out of town?"
Ask, "Who is with me when I'm most tempted? Friends? Coworkers? A crowd of strangers? When I'm alone?" Also ask, "How do I usually feel when I am most tempted?" It may be when you are tired or lonely or bored or depressed or under stress. It may be when you've been hurt or angry or worried, or after a big success or spiritual high.
You should identify your typical pattern of temptation and then prepare to avoid those situations as much as possible. The Bible tells us repeatedly to anticipate and be ready to face temptation." Paul said, "Don't give the Devil a chance." Wise planning reduces temptation. Follow the advice of Proverbs: "Plan carefully what you do.... Avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don't go one step off the right way."' "God's people avoid evil ways, and they protect themselves by watching where they go."
Request God's help. Heaven has a twenty-four-hour emergency hot line. God wants you to ask him for assistance in overcoming temptation. He says, "Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me."
I call this a "microwave" prayer because it is quick and to the point: Help! SOS! Mayday! When temptation strikes, you don't have time for a long conversation with God; you simply cry out. David, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and millions of others have prayed this kind of instant prayer for help in trouble.
The Bible guarantees that our cry for help will be heard because Jesus is sympathetic to our struggle. He faced the same temptations we do. He "understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin."
If God is waiting to help us defeat temptation, why don't we turn to him more often? Honestly, sometimes we don't want to be helped! We want to give in to temptation even though we know it's wrong. At that moment we think we know what's best for us more than God does.
At other times we're embarrassed to ask God for help because we keep giving in to the same temptation over and over. But God never gets irritated, bored, or impatient when we keep coming back to him. The Bible says, "Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it."
God's love is everlasting, and his patience endures forever. If you have to cry out for God's help two hundred times a day to defeat a particular temptation, he will still be eager to give mercy and grace, so come boldly. Ask him for the power to do the right thing and then expect him to provide it.
Temptations keep us dependent upon God. Just as the roots grow stronger when wind blows against a tree, so every time you stand up to a temptation you become more like Jesus. When you stumble-which you will-it is not fatal. Instead of giving in or giving up, look up to God, expect him to help you, and remember the reward that is waiting for you: 'When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After then have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever:'



DAY TWENTY-SIX THINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSE

Point to Ponder: Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.

Verse to Remember: "God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward then will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
James L 12 (NIT)

Question to Consider: What Christlike character quality can I develop by defeating the most common temptation I face?

Life is not always a bowl of cherries sometimes you get the pits

As I was walking through Farmer's Market, I could not believe how many vendors were selling cherries.  This is the first harvest of cherries in Santa Barbara so each vendor is giving samples of their wares, hoping you will buy.  You know me.  I love "free stuff"!  From booth to booth, I would be given another cherry from another vendor.  Some cherries were black.  Others ruby red.  To my surprise, some were even yellow.  Some a little sour.  Some like "the sweet nectar of the Roman and Greek gods.  You can imagine what is happening?  My mouth is filling up with pits.

To me, I no longer saw these as pits but as seeds.

Each seed has the opportunity to become a tree.  It takes a long time for a seed to become a tree.  Usually 5-7 years.  How many cherries does one tree produce?  Have no idea.  Hundreds?  Thousands?  I googled it but could not find the answer.  As the tree matures, the fruit it produces is sweeter than the year before.

As I spit out the 17 pits that were in my mouth.  Yes.  I counted them.  Pretty gross?  I know.  However, the revelation that I had was not that I had spit out 17 pits but missing the opportunity to planting 17 trees.

Question to Consider

What troublesome problem in my life has caused the greatest growth in me?

1)  Being Homeless

2)  Being Unemployed

3)  Open Heart Surgery

4)  Struggling with Same Sex Attraction

5)  Mental illness

What do you think the answer is?

DAY 25 TRANSFORMED BY TROUBLE

DAY 25 TRANSFORMED BY TROUBLE

Transformed by Trouble

For our light and momentary troublesare achieving for us an eternal glorythat far outweighs them all.2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)

It is the fire of suffering thatbrings forth the gold of godliness.Madame Guyon
God has a purpose behind every problem.
He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, he depends more on circumstances to make us like Jesus than he depends on our reading the Bible. The reason is obvious: You face circumstances twenty-four hours a day.
Jesus warned us that we would have problems in the world.' No one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering, and no one gets to skate through life problem-free. Life is a series of problems. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God's growth process for you. Peter assures us that problems are normal, saying, "Don't be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you."
God uses problems to draw you closer to himself. The Bible says, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit." Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days-when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you're out of options, when the pain is great-and you turn to God alone. It is during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When we're in pain, we don't have the energy for superficial prayers.
Joni Eareckson Tada notes, "When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus." We learn things about God in suffering that we can't learn any other way.
God could have kept Joseph out of jail, kept Daniel out of the lion's den, kept Jeremiah from being tossed into a slimy pit, kept Paul from being shipwrecked three times, and kept the three Hebrew young men from being thrown into the blazing furnace-but he didn't. He let those problems happen, and every one of those persons was drawn closer to God as a result.
Problems force us to look to God and depend on him instead of ourselves. Paul testified to this benefit: "We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us." You'll never know that God is all you need until God is all you've got.
Regardless of the cause, none of your problems could happen without God's permission. Everything that happens to a child of God is Father filtered, and he intends to use it for good even when Satan and others mean it for bad.
Because God is sovereignly in control, accidents are just incidents in God's good plan for you. Because every day of your life was written on God's calendar before you were born, everything that happens to you has spiritual significance. Everything! Romans 8:28-29 explains why: "We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son."

UNDERSTANDING ROMANS 8:28-29
This is one of the most misquoted and misunderstood passages in the Bible. It doesn't say, "God causes everything to work out the way I want it to." Obviously that's not true. It also doesn't say, "God causes everything to work out to have a happy ending on earth." That is not true either. There are many unhappy endings on earth.
We live in a fallen world. Only in heaven is everything done perfectly the way God intends. That is why we are told to pray, "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." To fully understand Romans 8:28-29 you must consider it phrase by phrase.
"We know": Our hope in difficult times is not based on positive thinking, wishful thinking, or natural optimism. It is a certainty based on the truths that God is in complete control of our universe and that he loves us.
"that God causes": There's a Grand Designer behind everything. Your life is not a result of random chance, fate, or luck. There is a master plan. History is His story. God is pulling the strings. We make mistakes, but God never does. God cannot make a mistake-because he is God.
"everything": God's plan for your life involves all that happens to you-including your mistakes, your sins, and your hurts. It includes illness, debt, disasters, divorce, and death of loved ones. God can bring good out of the worst evil. He did at Calvary.

Everything that happens to you has spiritual significance.

"to work together": Not separately or independently. The events in your life work together in God's plan. They are not isolated acts, but interdependent parts of the process to make you like Christ. To bake a cake you must use flour, salt, raw eggs, sugar, and oil. Eaten individually, each is pretty distasteful or even bitter. But bake them together and they become delicious. If you will give God all your distasteful, unpleasant experiences, he will blend them together for good.
"for the good": This does not say that everything in life is good. Much of what happens in our world is evil and bad, but God specializes in bringing good out of it. In the official family tree of Jesus Christ, four women are listed: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Tamar seduced her father-in-law to get pregnant. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was not even Jewish and broke the law by marrying a Jewish man. Bathsheba committed adultery with David, which resulted in her husband's murder. These were not exactly sterling reputations, but God brought good out of bad, and Jesus came through their lineage. God's purpose is greater than our problems, our pain, and even our sin.
"of those who love God and are called": This promise is only for God's children. It is not for everyone. All things work for bad for those living in opposition to God and insist on having their own way.
"according to his purpose": What is that purpose? It is that we "become like his Son." Everything God allows to happen in your life is permitted for that purpose!

Your most profound
and intimate experiences
of worship will likely be
in your darkest days.

BUILDING CHRISTLIKE CHARACTER
We are like jewels, shaped with the hammer and chisel of adversity. If a jeweler's hammer isn't strong enough to chip off our rough edges, God will use a sledgehammer. If we're reallystubborn, he uses a jackhammer. He will use whatever it takes.
Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber. Paul said, "We know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character." What happens outwardly in your life is not as important as what happens inside you. Your circumstances are temporary, but your character will last forever.
The Bible often compares trials to a metal refiner's fire that burns away the impurities. Peter said, "These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold." A silversmith was asked, "How do you know when the silver is pure?" He replied, "When I see my reflection in it." When you've been refined by trials, people can see Jesus' reflection in you. James said, "Under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors.”
Since God intends to make you like Jesus, he will take you through the same experiences Jesus went through. That includes loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, and many other problems. The Bible says Jesus "learned obedience through suffering" and "was made perfect through suffering." Why would God exempt us from what he allowed his own Son to experience? Paul said, "We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!"
RESPONDING TO PROBLEMS AS JESUS WOULD
Problems don't automatically produce what God intends. Many people become bitter, rather than better, and never grow up. You have to respond the way Jesus would.
Remember that God's plan is good. God knows what is best for you and has your best interests at heart. God told Jeremiah, "The plans I have for you fare] plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Joseph understood this truth when he told his brothers who had sold him into slavery, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." Hezekiah echoed the same sentiment about his life-threatening illness: "It was for my own good that I had such hard times. Whenever God says no to your request for relief, remember, "God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best.'

what happens outwardly inyour life is not as important aswhat happens inside you.

It is vital that you stay focused on God's plan, not your pain or problem. That is how Jesus endured the pain of the cross, and we are urged to follow his example: "Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards." Corrie ten Boom, who suffered in a Nazi death camp, explained the power of focus: "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you'll be at rest!" Your focus will determine your feelings. The secret of endurance is to remember that your pain is temporary but your reward will be eternal. Moses endured a life of problems "because he was looking ahead to his reward." Paul endured hardship the same way. He said, "Our present troubles are quite small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!"
Don't give in to short-term thinking. Stay focused on the end result: "If we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.”
Rejoice and give thanks. The Bible tells us to `give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. " How is this possible? Notice that God tells us to give thanks "in all circumstances" not "for all circumstances." God doesn't expect you to be thankful for evil, for sin, for suffering, or for their painful consequences in the world. Instead, God wants you to thank him that he will use your problems to fulfill his purposes.
The Bible says, "Rejoice in the Lord always." It doesn't say, "Rejoice over your pain." That's masochism. You rejoice "in the Lord." No matter what's happening, you can rejoice in God's love, care, wisdom, power, and faithfulness. Jesus said, `Be full of joy at that time, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven."
We can also rejoice in knowing that God is going through the pain with us. We do not serve a distant and detached God who spouts encouraging cliches safely from the sideline. Instead, he enters into our suffering. Jesus did it in the Incarnation, and his Spirit does it in us now. God will never leave us on our own.
Refuse to give up. Be patient and persistent. The Bible says, "Let the process go on until your endurance is fully developed, and you will find that you have become men of mature character ... with no weak spots.'
Character building is a slow process. Whenever we try to avoid or escape the difficulties in life, we short-circuit the process, delay our growth, and actually end up with a worse kind of pain-the worthless type that accompanies denial and avoidance. When you grasp the eternal consequences of your character development, you'll pray fewer "Comfort me' prayers ("Help me feel good") and more "Conform me" prayers ("Use this to make me more like you").
You know you are maturing when you begin to see the hand of God in the random, baffling, and seemingly pointless circumstances of life.
If you are facing trouble right now, don't ask, "Why me?" Instead ask, "What do you want me to learn?" Then trust God and keep on doing what's right. "You need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion." Don't give up-grow up!

DAY TWENTY-FIVETHINKING ABOUT MY PURPOSEPoint to Ponder: There is a purpose behind every problem.

Verse to Remember: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (NIV)

Question to Consider: What problem in my life has caused the greatest growth in me?

Do you know why I know God loves me today?

Transformed by Truth

One truth is that we were all created in the image of God.

Americans have a tendency to label people as the best and worst dressed.  "Who wore it best?"  People magazine has "The Most Beautiful Woman and the Sexiest Man" on their front cover.  Need I go on.  I think you get the idea.

Well, I have nibbled on those lies hook, line and sinker.  Not nibble.  Devoured.  God did not walk around and declare that this person shall be beautiful.  Although, I may beg to differ as all my friends are gorgeous.  Nor did God go around and hit some people with the "ugly stick"!

The Bible says "Do not judge, lest you be judged."  At this very moment, I JUST had a revelation.  For years, I have gone around and judged people as beautiful (my friends and family) and others as ugly (usually my enemies).  "U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, absolutely UGLY" would be a cheer I would chant."   The revelation is this:  As I have judged, I have also judged myself.

As I have judged, I have also judged myself.

People Magazine has said that Brad Pitt is The Sexiest Man Alive.  The next year they will say that Johnny Depp is.  One year was George Clooney.  I wonder if these guys feel bad that they no longer are the sexiest man alive.  Do I need to remind of you of the Wicked Witch from Snow White and the magic mirror?  Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

No wonder I have had low self esteem.  I do not look like Brad, Johnny or George.  It is I who has judged myself as ugly.  Not God.  Not People Magazine.  Not my friends or enemies.

Today I am being transformed by the truth that God created me in His image and called me good.  When I think of it, if I declare myself less than attractive, is that not an insult to God?  Now that is ugly.  Absolutely Ugly.

You and I are Beautiful!

Purpose Driven Life Day 24

Transformed by Truth

The truth transforms us.

Spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth. Sanctification requires revelation. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us like the Son of God.

I must accept its authority. The Bible must become the authoritative standard for my life: the compass I rely on for direction, the counsel I listen to for making wise decisions, and the benchmark I use for evaluating everything. The Bible must always have the first and last word in my life.

I must assimilate its truth. It is not enough just to believe the Bible; I must fill my mind with it so that the Holy Spirit can transform me with the truth. There are five ways to do this: you can receive it, read it, research it, remember it, and reflect on it.

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Point to ponder: The truth transforms me

Verse to remember: " If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32

Question to consider: What has God already told me in his Word that I haven't started doing yet?

Last edited by kansascrochetmom; 04-10-2008 at 06:26 PM.

No Better Time to Grow Up than the Present

Everyday I think THAT day is the most important for me.  However, I felt like Rick Warren was writing specifically about me today.  I hold on to the title that I am a child of God.  However, there is a huge difference from being child-like and childish.  Unfortunately for me, the latter rings true.  It is time for me to grow up.

If you garden like I do, sometimes you plant a flower from a seed.  You water the seed.  You pull out the weeds around the seed.  You make sure that it gets enough sun but not too much.  You fertilize the soil to make sure the plant gets all the nutrients it needs to grow.  The seed is not meant to stay a seed.  It is meant to become a plant and then bloom the particular flower that you planted.

That is the plan God has for you and me.  Have you ever heard "the fruits of the Spirit?"  Have you ever heard humans being referred to as "the branches", Jesus Christ being, "the vine", and God the Father as "the Gardener"?

"If you remain in me, I will remain in you.  Apart from me you can do nothing."

God has been very patient with me but it is time for me to grow up.  You expect a two year old to act like a two year old.  When a child age five acts like a five year old, no one notices.  However, when a fifty-five year old man behaves like he is five, it really is very pathetic.

Imagine watering, weeding, tending, and fertilizing a seed for fifty years?   I would be frustrated after a few months with no appearance of the plant.  What a wonderful God to show me compassion and unbelievable patience for half a century.  Many friends and family have given up on me as I would with a seed that never grew up.  However, if you are one of the ones reading this blog, thank you for not giving up on me.