relationship: Friend/friend

Description of the relationship

When we speak of friends in an earthly sense, we can be talking about a vast range in the depth of those relationships. A friend can be used to refer to our close, intimate relationships (like our spouse or best friend) and can also be used to refer to mere acquaintances or people we barely know. In the technology age, it's even possible to be Facebook or blog friends with someone you have never met.

When the Bible speaks about us being friends with God, it is meaning the close, intimate relationship. In Proverbs 18:24b Solomon says, "but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." No acquaintance sticks closer than a brother. No, only a close, intimate friend does.

In fact, when Jesus calls us (we'll get into who us is in a moment) friends in John 15:14, He does it while talking about His amazing love for us. I think it would serve us well to look at this passage together in the context of his discussion on love. John 15:12-17 (ESV):

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love on another."

A couple of things jump out to me in this passage:

1. The depth - As we mentioned, this is a deep friendship. In fact, Jesus says that the greatest love a person could show is laying down one's own life for a friend. As we've mentioned in previous discussions, Jesus died on the cross for us. Jesus laid down His life for us. This means that Jesus has shown us more love than any other friend, and, thus, is our closest friend.

2. Our standing - Jesus says that He no longer thinks of us as servants because we are His friends. Jesus says that a servant is not made known what the master is doing, but that He has revealed what the Master (God) is doing.

3. The initiation - Jesus tells us that we didn't choose Him, but He chose us. I think that this is an incredibly special fact. I mean, think about it. Many of us have gone out of our way to try to get someone to like us because we perceived them as cool or whatever. We almost take pride in the fact that someone wants to be our friend and approaches us instead of the other way around. Well, this is exactly what Jesus did to us. He chose us. He wanted to be our friend before we wanted to be His. I find this incredible.

Definition of the roles

Friend: The role for this is unique when compared with the other relationships we have covered. With all the others, there are different roles, but in friendship there are simply two friends. We have the same role in this relationship in terms of being a friend. All that said, even in our friendship Jesus is superior to us.

Let's look at how we become friends with God. There are two Scripture references that jump out to me with regard to this:

First, we can see what Jesus said in the passage we already read. In John 15:14 Jesus says, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." So, we do see that there is a condition here. We must do the command of the Lord if we are to be His friend. Notice that it's not that He must do what we command to be our friend. The condition is only one-sided. We must do His will. We must be obedient to Him.

Second, we can see in James 2:23 that Abraham believed God (which was counted to him as righteousness) and he was called a friend of God. It would seem from this passage that Abraham was considered a friend of God as a result of his belief in Him.

I think these two passages actually speak to the same idea. It is out of our faith in God that we obey him and are called His friends.

Discussion of the reality

This relationship seems pretty clear cut. I mean, if we're Christians then we are friends of God. If we're not Christians then we're not friends of God. So, where can/does this relationship go wrong? I would like to look at two areas that people may struggle in:

1. Being the dominant friend - We can make this same mistake in earthly friendships. We always feel the need to talk, but never listen. We want to lay all of our problems on our friends, but never want to bear any of theirs. This is an incredibly selfish, ego-centric view of friendship. There are many verses in Proverbs that warn us against doing all the talking. We are supposed to talk with friends, not at them. Our conversations with friends should be dialogues and not monologues.

The same is true for our friendship with God! God desires to speak to us and not only have us speak to Him. God wants to have an intimate friendship with us. One problem with rushing our devotional and prayer time is that we only ensure that we tell God what we want to say and typical give God no time to talk back. As I mentioned in a previous discussion, we need to know God's voice if we are ever going to hear what He has to say to us.

2. Being the insecure friend - We are the timid friend. We don't feel good enough to be friends with God. We don't think we deserve it. Well, guess what: both of these statements are true...we aren't good enough and we don't deserve it. That said, God still chose us as His friends in His grace and mercy. It's not about what we deserve, it's about what He has freely offered us.

We can't play the role of the awkward junior higher when it comes to friendships. If we are Christians, then we are friends with God. Instead of spending all of our time with God telling Him how much we don't deserve His friendship, we need to accept that He's offered it and just be friends. A friendship that only discusses the state of the friendship is not much of a friendship at all. Just be His friend, and know that He wants to be yours.

I Am A Friend Of God

Israel Houghton and Michael Gungor

Who am I that you are mindful of me

That you hear me, when I call

Is it true that you are thinking of me

How you love me, it's amazing (What am I Lord)

I am a friend of God

I am a friend of God

I am a friend of God

He calls me friend

God Almighty

Lord of Glory

You have called me friend

2003 Integrity's Praise! Music Vertical Worship Songs

in His strength. for His glory.

st. patrick's breastplate

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I felt that it would be appropriate to share an old Irish hymn titled "Saint Patrick's Breastplate" (it is also sometimes referred to as "The Deer's Cry" or "The Lorica") with you. Although this hymn was not actually composed by St. Patrick, it is considered to be descriptive of his faith.

The hymn was originally written in an ancient Irish dialect and thus many translations can be found. I have selected the version that the Celtic Monks memorize and pray each morning (source: www.prayerfoundation.org). Although I enjoy nearly all of it, I find the final two verses to be especially powerful.

"Saint Patrick's Breastplate"

I bind unto myself today

The strong Name of the Trinity,

By invocation of the same,

The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.

By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;

His baptism in the Jordan river;

His death on Cross for my salvation

His bursting from the spiced tomb;

His riding up the heavenly way;

His coming at the day of doom;

I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power

Of the great love of the cherubim;

The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,

The service of the seraphim,

Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,

The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,

All good deeds done unto the Lord,

And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today

The virtues of the starlit heaven,

The glorious sun's life-giving ray,

The whiteness of the moon at even,

The flashing of the lightning free,

The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,

The stable earth, the deep salt sea,

Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today

The power of God to hold and lead,

His eye to watch, His might to stay,

His ear to hearken to my need.

The wisdom of my God to teach,

His hand to guide, His shield to ward,

The word of God to give me speech,

His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,

The vice that gives temptation force,

The natural lusts that war within.

The hostile men that mar my course;

Or few or many, far or nigh,

In every place and in all hours,

Against their fierce hostility,

I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,

Against false words of heresy,

Against all knowledge that defiles,

Against the heart's idolatry,

Against the wizard's evil craft,

Against the death wound and the burning,

The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,

Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,

Christ behind me, Christ before me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ in quiet, and in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,

The strong Name of the Trinity;

By invocation of the same.

The Three in One, and One in Three,

Of Whom all nature hath creation,

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:

Praise to the Lord of my salvation,

Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

I pray you all have a happy, safe St. Patrick's Day!

in His strength. for His glory.

relationship: Master/servant

Description of the relationship

The Master/servant relationship can also be called the Master/slave relationship. In this context, servant and slave is an interchangeable word (the Greek word used in the New Testament translates as "bondservant"). Before I describe this relationship with regard to us and God, I think it's appropriate to first discuss slavery during the time of the Roman Empire (though I will not go in depth with an explanation as that would require its own study):

Slavery during this time was not the same as slavery practiced in pre-Civil War America, so it's important not to think of this relationship in such terms. In the Bible time, slavery was practiced with rules in mind. People often became slaves due to poverty and not forced labor. Slaves were considered a part of the family in most cases. Slaves weren't looked down upon as they were in America, but were considered vital to Roman structure. We can see the affection showed toward slaves in Paul's letter to Philemon regarding Philemon's slave Onesimus. Slaves could go free and in some cases even be adopted by their Master (we'll come back to this point in a later relationship study).

During the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus spoke of treasures. He mentioned how we should not lay up treasures for ourselves on earth, but we should lay them up in heaven instead. At the end of His point on the subject Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24 ESV)

The implication in this passage would be that we should be serving God as our master. This passage also says that the servant must be devoted to his master.

Jesus also makes this strong implication by his words in Matthew 10:24-25 after telling His disciples of the persecution they would face and in John 13:16 after He washes His disciples feet. In each passage, He tells His disciples that a servant is not greater that his master, clearly speaking of their relationship with Him.

This relationship is laid up much more explicitly by Paul in Romans 6:15-23 (ESV):

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice all the references Paul made to slavery in this passage. Notice the tenses used. Paul speaks of being slaves to sin in the past tense and being slaves to God (and righteousness) in the present tense.

We see further confirmation of this relationship in the following greetings from letters in the New Testament:

• Romans 1:1 - "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus..."
• Philippians 1:1 - "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus..."
• Titus 1:1 - "Paul, a servant of God..."
• James 1:1 - "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ..."
• 2 Peter 1:1 - "Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ..."
• Jude 1:1 - "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ..."

Paul also calls a couple of other people servants in his letters (aside from the one with Timothy above). He mentions Epaphras in Colossians 1:7; 4:12 as well as Tychicus in Colossians 4:7.

The Master/servant relationship is exactly as it sounds...one where the servant surrenders his will to the will of the Master, serving Him completely and faithfully.

Definition of the roles

Master: I think the Scriptures above clearly show God as the Master in this relationship. God is the one who is in control. God is the one who has work to be done by the servants. God, as Master, is the one who provides for His servants.

One cool thing that we do see in Scripture, however, is that Jesus (the Master) humbled himself by doing a servant's task of washing His disciples' feet in John 13:1-20.

Servant: God is the Master and we are the servants. Jesus and Paul seem to make a similar point in the passages shown above. It seems that everyone is involved in a master/servant relationship. The only thing that changes is the identity of the master. We are either slaves to God or slaves to sin. We cannot be both!

stewardship.")

As servants, we are completely dependent upon our Master!

Discussion of the reality

Often times, we want do what we want to do. We want to act as freedmen. How often do we choose our desires and our will over the desires and will of God. We should be daily surrendering to God. In fact, Jesus said in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." We need to daily decide you surrender our will to God's will. In John 3:30, John the Baptist says of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." This is true for us all. We must be careful not to fight being a slave to God, because as we read earlier, the only other option is being a slave to sin.

Not only can we choose to not to be a slave to God (and thus be a slave to sin) but we can also mix up who's who in the relationship. Sometimes we may be acting like the master, deceiving ourselves into thinking that God's simply there to serve us. This is pride and is incredibly dangerous. God is not our personal servant or genie who grants our every wish. In any master/slave relationship, the slave cannot start commanding the master around. This is especially true in our relationship with God. Don't get me wrong, God will provide for our needs. He is our Master and that is something that masters do. But God doesn't need us commanding Him around. (Just to clarify, I'm not talking about asking Him for His provision in prayer here; I'm talking about how some people actually command God around.)

Similarly, our work should glorify God instead of us expecting God's work to glorify us.

The servant is never greater than his Master!

MASTER

servant

in His strength. for His glory.

relationship: Shepherd/sheep

Description of the relationship

Jesus discusses this relationship in John 10:1-21. There is a lot to learn from this passage. I want to highlight seven key things that we learn about this relationship in John 10:

1. A thief does not enter the sheepfold through the door but climbs in by another way.
2. A shepherd enters the sheepfold through the door.

3. The sheep know the shepherd's voice and will follow him.
4. The shepherd's sheep will not follow another voice.
5. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
6. Someone who does not own the sheep will not protect them.
7. The shepherd knows his sheep and the sheep know their shepherd.

Although I think this passage may give the fullest picture of the relationship between the Shepherd and sheep, it is certainly not the only passage that mentions it. Let's look at a couple of others:

In Luke 15:1-7, we find the "Parable of the Lost Sheep." In this parable, Jesus describes another element of this relationship. Jesus says that even if only one sheep out of a flock of 100 went missing, a shepherd would leave the 99 still remaining to find the one. He then goes on to say that finding that one sheep causes much rejoicing.

In Matthew 10:16-25, we find Jesus discussing the persecution that the disciples will face. Jesus uses this description in verse 16: "Behold, I am sending you out at sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (ESV) It may seem that this paints a completely different picture, but I'm not so sure that it does.

Definition of the roles

Shepherd: Jesus is the Shepherd. In fact, He calls himself the Good Shepherd. While others came only to steal, kill and destroy, Jesus makes it clear in John 10 that he came to save us. Jesus is the only Shepherd. Jesus is the only Messiah (Christ). Jesus also says He is the door in John 10. Jesus is the only way to salvation. There is no other way, just as there is no other shepherd. Any other method will only steal, kill and destroy us.

So, how are we saved? Jesus discusses this as well. In John 10:11, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Jesus furthers this thought in John 10:17, saying, "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again." John 19:16-37 details Jesus death on the cross. Jesus died to save us. John 20:1-10 details the account of Christ's resurrection. (He did say, after all, that He lay down His life that He may take it up again.)

As the Shepherd, Jesus is the ultimate protector. He guards, protects and cares for all of His sheep. He proved His worth as Shepherd when He died upon the cross for His sheep.

Sheep: We are the sheep. As sheep, we need to know our Shepherd. We need to know His voice. If we do not know what the voice of God sounds like in our hearts, then we risk following a thief or robber's voice. We must be careful to follow Jesus. The Shepherd died for us, to save us.

How then are we saved? Romans 10:9, 10 says, "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

So, we need to know our Shepherd and know His voice that we might follow Him wherever He leads us. And we need to confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead.

We need to place our trust in the Shepherd. The reason that being sent out as sheep among wolves shouldn't concern us is that our Shepherd is the one who said it. We can trust that our Shepherd knows what's best for us.

Discussion of the reality

There are a couple of major areas that we can struggle with in this relationship and in our roles:

1. Sometimes, we might not know what God's voice sounds like in our hearts. This should not be so! We need to know the voice of God. If my wife called me and my response to her saying hello was to question who was calling, I would be in big trouble. That doesn't happen though because I know my wife's voice. I have an intimate (meaning close) relationship with her and hear her voice all the time. The same is true (and even more-so) when it comes to us and God. We should have an intimate relationship with Him and know His voice.

2. Sometimes, we might find ourselves taking the lead. We need to be careful not to take the lead. That's the job of the Shepherd. The sheep's job is to follow. We have been called to follow Jesus, not lead Him. Instead of creating our own plans, we should allow God to show us the plans He has for us. His plans will always be better than our plans. Things will always go better for us when we let Him lead and we simply follow. We need to trust the Lord.

It's also extremely important for us never to forget the sacrifice that our Shepherd made for us on the cross!

The ultimate sacrifice by a Shepherd (Christ Jesus) for His sheep (us)

in His strength. for His glory.

relationship: Potter/clay

Description of the relationship

We see a picture of the potter/clay relationship painted in Jeremiah 18. In this passage, Jeremiah is commanded by God to go to the potter's house. While there, Jeremiah sees that the pottery the potter was making was spoiled in his hands so he reworked it into a different piece of pottery as he saw fit. Then God says that he is like the potter and the people of Israel are like the clay.

There are two important things to know about this relationship:

1. The potter does as he chooses to the clay. The potter takes the clay and envisions the pottery he would like to make. The potter shapes and molds the clay as he sees fit. If the piece of pottery the potter is making spoils, then the potter reworks it. The potter is in complete control.

2. As Isaiah 45:9 points out, the clay does not have any say in the process. The clay is unable to speak. The clay cannot tell the potter what to make or how to mold it. The clay is 100% at the will and mercy of the master.

Reading this description would seem to indicate that we have no say in this relationship. While it is true that God is sovereign and could choose to do with us whatever He wants, we do see a role we play in this relationship in 2 Timothy 2:20-21. Paul tells Timothy that we must cleanse ourselves to be a vessel that is holy and set apart for special purposes.


Definition of the roles

Isaiah 64:8 says, "But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Potter: It is clear from the Scriptures we have looked at that God is the Potter. He decides how to mold us and make us. If He decides to rework us, then He is justified in doing so because He is the Potter.

Clay: It is also clear from the Scriptures we have looked at that we are the clay. We are the work of His hand. We don't have a say in how we are molded or made. The only responsibility that we have is to be cleansed. If we are not cleansed, we cannot be set apart for special purposes. So, we only choose whether we're cleansed or dirty. We have no say over how we're worked. And as clay, we do not have the right to question the Potter. God will always know what's best for us. We should never question His wisdom.

There are times when David questioned God in the Psalms. But these questions seem more rhetorical as he doesn't appear to wait for an answer. Not long after asking the question, he simply acknowledges that he trusts the Lord in His wisdom.

We must be careful to recognize our role in this relationship. We need to always trust that the Lord knows what is best and will mold us in exactly the right way.


Discussion of the reality

I know that I sometimes struggle when I don't understand why I'm going through a certain situation or when I am in a particular season. God often reminds me that I need to trust Him. There are no ifs, ands or buts here. Simply: trust God. Who are we to tell our Creator that He's making a mistake with us or that our situation is too hard for us to handle. God knows us better than we know ourselves. We need to be careful of this.

Some people try to shape God into the image they want Him to have. They pick and choose the aspects of God they like and discard the rest. The problem with this is that those people are trying to take the role as potter and trying to make God into the role as clay. This will never be met with success. We cannot mold God into what we want Him to be. When Moses asked God for His name, God replies in Exodus 3:14 by saying, "I AM WHO I AM." (also could be translated "I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.") The title YAHWEH is the covenant name for God which means "I AM." God's name is holy. What we also learn is that He is who He is. We cannot change or manipulate who He is. He is unchangeable. He is God. What more is there to say?

We need to be careful to always remember that He is the Potter, we're not; and He's not the clay, we are.

Here is my prayer today:

Please help me guard the things I say
Opinions, thoughts and questions are not for clay
Too often, as I'm being molded, I lift my voice
Though how clay is molded is the Potter's choice
Every time that I'm being molded and I begin to speak
Remind me that clay is silent and meek
~
Create with me whatever vessel you desire
Lend me strength as I'm kilned in the fire
A reminder for me today:
You are the Potter; I am but clay

in His strength. for His glory.

relationship: introduction

God designed people to be relational beings. As such, He desires for us to have a relationship with Him. In fact, the Bible shows us a number of relationships we have with God. Over the next seven days, I want to take a closer look at the following seven of those relationships:

1. Potter/clay
2. Shepherd/sheep
3. Master/slave
4. Friend/friend
5. Father/child
6. Lover/loved
7. Redeemer/redeemed

For each post, I will provide a description of the relationship, a definition of what roles each party (God and us) should be playing in the relationship, and a discussion on how we often misunderstand the relationship and confuse the roles.

I pray that each post will encourage growth in your life in each particular area. I pray the same for myself as I write them and read them.

in His strength. for His glory.

in His strength. for His glory.

While creating my new blog, there were a few decisions that I needed to make. I needed to decide on the domain name for my blog. I needed to decide on the design of my blog. And I needed to decide on a name for my blog.

The domain name was easy. People already have familiarity with http://pastormikebrown.blogspot.com. I simply took this domain name from "such is life." and created a new one for that blog.

The design of the blog was also easy for me. Why was it so easy? Because I tend not to be to picky when it comes to design. Maybe I should be, but I'm not. I looked through some of the design templates and settled on one that didn't come across to me as girly or hidious.

The name of the blog was the one that took a little more thought. I tinkered around with a few different names including, "i surrender.", "my life surrendered.", "seeking more depth" and things of that vein. You see, while blog designs don't mean much, names are important to me. Names define the blogs and give them character. I wanted to choose a name that had meaning to me. That's when I was reminded of a phrase that I felt God gave me a while back: "in His strength. for His glory." I thought it would be worthwhile to discuss it's significance to me.

After running track and cross country in high school and playing soccer my freshman year of college, I became lazy. With the exception of a few jogs with my then-girlfriend/now-wife, I stopped running. A few years ago, God started challenging me on my laziness (and gluttony as they went hand-in-hand). Within a month or so, I had a renewed passion for running. I couldn't believe I had ever stopped. Running felt so right to me. After not much time of running again, I made a big decision: I was going to finally fulfill a goal of mine from when I was a teenager and run a marathon.

I trained all spring and summer and into the fall. I didn't train as much as I should have, but I did train. In October of 2009, I completed the Cape Cod Marathon. I didn't complete it in the time I was hoping for, but I fought through a lot of adversity that day. The biggest positive for me was that I was able to raise a good chunk of change for a cause I care about: Speed the Light.

After hibernating for the winter, I began running again the following March. I contemplated running another marathon, with the hope of improving on my time over the 26.2 mile run. I decided that if I did run another one, I would not attempt to raise any money through it. I had two reasons for this decision: 1. I had already asked people the year before and didn't want to annoy anyone by asking again; and 2. if I wasn't raising money, I would have an out if I wanted one. While at a retreat that spring, however, I felt like God was speaking to my heart. I felt like God was showing me that my motive for running wasn't pure. Instead of running for the personal accomplishment of a pr (personal record), I felt that I should be running for God. This meant raising money for missionaries through Speed the Light again.

I ramped up my training in preparation for a second marathon. My problem the first time around was that I didn't train hard enough. It was easy for me to come up with excuses for why not to run during the week. I basically only did my weekend runs (which were the long runs) and was fine with that. This time around, I refused to make that mistake again. As firm as I was in this refusal, however, I realized that I could not avoid repeating that mistake on my own. I recognized that I needed God's help. So, as I ran, I began praying more and more that God would enable me to persevere.

During one of my prayer times as I was running, I felt like God gave me this motto: "in His strength. for His glory." God reminded me why I could run and why I was running. I could not run in my strength, but in God's. I was not to run to improve my time, but to give God glory by supporting missionaries and proclaiming His name.

Very quickly I started adopting that motto for my entire life. Everything I am, everything I do needs to be in His strength and with the purpose of bringing Him glory. As yesterday's blog post pointed out, I still forget this truth sometimes. This is why I want to be a good steward with all that God has given me. So I can bring Him glory. And I can only offer good stewardship when I rely on His strength.

There were many occasions when I wanted to quit. There were runs when I felt like I couldn't take another step. But with this motto in mind and on my heart, I pressed on. God enabled me every time. I completed the Hartford Marathon in October 2010. I cannot tell you how many times I was reminded of the motto "in His strength. for His glory." during the run that day. And, though a pr was no longer my goal, I shaved over 1 hour off my previous time. Praise God!

I heard an illustration recently using statistics from Walter Payton's football career. It really ministered to me when I heard it and fits appropriately with this post, so I want to share it with you. Instead of using the stats from Walter Payton's career, however, I am going to alter it by using the stats from Emmitt Smith's:

Emmitt Smith is a hall-of-fame running back who played the majority of his career for the Dallas Cowboys. I was a huge Emmitt Smith fan growing up. It was because of him and Troy Aikman that I had a Cowboys' Starter jacket and a Cowboys' ball cap. Emmitt Smith is the NFL's all-time rushing leader with 18,355 yards. This number equates to just over 10.4 miles. I have run 26.2 miles twice, so 10.4 miles is no big deal (this is actually a pretty easy run for me these days). What's amazing about the 10.4 miles that Emmitt Smith ran over the course of his career, however, is that he was knocked down every 4.2 yards, or .002 miles of it. This means that Emmitt Smith was knocked down 100 times for less than every quarter mile, or less than one lap around a track! Could you imagine getting knocked down 100 times before finishing one lap around a track? Would you persevere for the nearly 41 laps you had left? What a picture of perseverance!

There are two things I think we can take from this illustration: First, Emmitt Smith never could have amassed 10.4 miles without ability. Second, Emmitt Smith never could have gotten back up every .002 miles without perseverance, driven by a purpose. And for me, that ability is "in His strength." and that purpose which drives me to persevere is "for His glory."

How about you? Do you persevere when things are tough or do you quit? If you struggle to persevere (and believe me, I struggle to persevere through life's battles at times), maybe you need to assess if you have a purpose driving your perseverance. Or maybe you need to assess if you are relying on your own ability. Although we all face different struggles, the one thing that remains constant for all of us is that God wants us to trust Him for the strength to make it through and desires to receive the glory once we do.

in His strength. for His glory.

stewardship

I love writing. I have loved writing since I can remember. Even as a young boy, I loved writing stories and poetry. I was the weird kid in school who enjoyed the writing assignments. Essays and papers were not a nuisance for me so much as an opportunity...an opportunity to write. It was out of this love for writing that I began writing blog posts for my blog "such is life." in 2008. Nearly 200 blogs later, I still love writing.

So, if I love writing so much and "such is life" satisfied my desire to write and people actually read it, why would I scrap "such is life." and start a new blog? Let me attempt to answer that question.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Christian. As a God-fearing man, I desire to constantly grow in my faith. (Unfortunately I have not always done such a good job of putting this desire to practice.) In order to grow, I read the Bible and pray on a consistent basis.

Lately as I have been seeking God during my devotions (times of praying and reading the Word), I have realized that God is working on some specific areas in my life. One particular area that the Lord has been working on in my heart is stewardship.

Merriam-Webster's online dictionary (www.m-w.com) defines stewardship this way: "the conducting, supervising or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care."

The concept of stewardship in the Christian world is based on the belief that everything we have ultimately comes from God. James 1:17 (ESV) says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Indeed, God has given us all that we have. And He doesn't give them to us to keep. He gives them to us to manage. So instead of us owning things, we are simply responsible for the things that God owns and has entrusted to us.

Stewardship can basically be broken down into the following three areas (well alliterated, might I add):

1. Treasures (all of our possessions - money, food, clothes, shelter, stuff, etc.)

2. Time (all of the time we have in each day)

3. Talents (all that we are gifted to do)

I had been praying about being a good steward for some time, but only really when it came to the first one: treasures. And really, I only focused on money. But this past week as I was praying, I felt challenged to include the other two areas: time and talents.

I began by praying for God to enable me to be a better steward with all my treasures (not only my money, but all my stuff). This proved to be a simple, brief prayer as God had already begun working on this area in my life recently. Prayer always seems simpler and briefer for me when I've already acknowledged the need for that area of my life and already begun taken steps to improve it (through God, of course).

Next, I prayed that God would enable me to be a good steward with my time. Although I hadn't been specifically praying for my stewardship in this area, it is also an area in my life that God had already begun working on recently. This proved to be another simple, brief prayer.

Finally, I prayed that God would enable me to be a good steward with my talents. I simply and briefly worked my way through this one as well...until I felt like God was challenging me. I felt like God was showing me that I wasn't working on this area. Not working on it? I mean, I'm in ministry as a pastor because I'm using the talent he gave me. This should have been a quick check in the old box for me. If only that's how it works. But it's not. Instead, God began to challenge my heart. He began revealing to me a talent that I wasn't surrendering to him: writing.

More specifically, God began to show me how I was wasting my talent by spending all of my time writing about pointless and useless musings. The whole point of "such is life." when I created it was to discuss random things that went on inside my head. "such is life." was never designed to give glory to God. And that's where I had missed the boat.

As I continued praying about this area over the next few days, it became clear to me what I needed to do. I needed to discontinue "such is life." and begin blogging for Him. You see, writing is not my talent. Writing is God's talent that He has given me stewardship over. I felt very strongly in my spirit that I should no longer write for the sake of writing (read: wasting the talent God has blessed me with) but write for the sake of God's glory.

So, this is why I started my new blog. I realize and accept the fact that some of the readers of "such is life." might decide not to read this blog. But I no longer want pleasing people to take priority over pleasing God in my writing. I believe that God will direct the right people to the right blog posts at the right time. I guess I'll just let Him figure my readership out. I hope that you will continue to read and that this blog will prove to be an inspiration and encouragement to you.

This all happened because I wasn't being a good steward of what God had given me to manage.

How about you? Do you struggle with your stewardship of what God has given you, as I did? Or maybe I can ask some of you if you struggle to view all that you have as really being God's? I could tell you that as a Christian I have never struggled with that. I would, of course, be lying. Sometimes I forget that everything is God's. Regardless of where you may be at, let me encourage you to take positive steps in the right direction today. Start taking your stewardship seriously. I think you might be shocked by the results of such a step.

in His strength. for His glory.