grace Posts

Choosing Gratitude- jeff warren

19 Nov , 2007 2 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSdP6PqsbJY]

(I’ve been a fan of Sara Groves’ music for years.  Now I’m a fan of her.)

Have you ever noticed how some people seem more grateful than others?  What’s the difference?  Why are some people thankful and others not?  What about you?  Would others describe you as a thankful person?  I think that a life of thanksgiving (or “thanksliving”) is a choice.  But I’m also convinced that the more vibrant your walk with Christ, the more grateful you are.  When you align yourself and, therefore your life, up with God’s perspective on life (that is, who you are and who He is), you will live a life of gratitude.  To the degree that we are not aligned to God’s Way, we become less grateful.  It’s possible to choose a life of gratitude but you must first acknowledge a few things… 

1.  Acknowledge what you have. 

The Bible says over and over again to “remember” what God has done for you.  The old hymn says, “Count your many blessings- name them one by one… count your many blessings, see what God has done.”  Health, home, church, family, friends, job, trials.  Are you content with what you have?  Or do you always tend to want more?  Be grateful for what you have.  Why are Americans so seemingly ungrateful?  How can such a materialistic people learn to be grateful?  What’s the solution?    

2.  Acknowledge why you have.     

  • Not by your own power.  “He has made us and we are His.” Psalm 100:3   Everything you have is from God so “enter His courts with thanksgiving- give thanks to Him.”      
  • Not by your own position.  Your position of power or wealth was not of your own doing.  We see this in the book of Daniel where Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that “the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes.”  Every person of any position has been put there by God.  If you have had any success vocationally or financially it’s only because of God.  God is the one who gives and takes away.  Whatever position you have has been given to you by God.
  • Not by your own person.    “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit’, says the Lord almighty.”  Zechariah 4:6  Why do some people have a sense of entitlement?  They seem to think the world owes them something, that they deserve what they want.  Others are so humble and so grateful when they receive even something small.   

3.  Acknowledge how you have.     

  • You are blessed.   “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth and He adds no trouble to it.” Proverbs 10:22  Wealth brings great trouble when it comes through ungodly means.       
  • You are loved.  Everything we have is an act of grace from God.  Romans 5:8  says “while we were sinners Christ died for us.”  1 John 4:10 says,  it’s not that we loved God but that He first loved us.  And verse 19 says we can now love others in the same way.   
  • You are responsible.  1 Corinthians 4:1-2 says, those who are given a trust must be found faithful.”  You are a steward of all that you have.  How do I steward all that I have been given?  I am responsible for the grace that I have received from God. 

4.  Acknowledge who you have.     

  • Family– express thanks to your family.       
  •  Friends– let a friend know how grateful you are to have him/her in your life.       
  •  Others– people in your life- your brothers and sisters in Christ.  In the end, life is really about who you have, not what you have.  If you want friends, be a friend.

   

Remember, gratitude is always centered on Christ. 

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”  Romans 8:32   

All of God’s blessings begin with Jesus.  It’s why Thanksgiving is clearly a believers’ holiday.  It reminds me of the atheist who suddenly felt profoundly grateful and realized he had no one to thank.  We know who to thank.  Our gratitude is ultimately focused on a Person.  So, let’s thank Him!     

A whole lotta prayin’ goin’ on

23 Oct , 2007 No Comments

I love the old negro spirituals.  This sounds like a good one.  But it’s actually the story of what’s been going in our church family.  There’s been a whole lot of praying going on.  FBC McKinney has been so committed to private, “in your room” kind of prayer (Matthew 6:6), that we actually have a prayer room for people to access any time 24/7/365.  This month we’re celebrating 20 years of prayer in our Prayer Room.  Since 1987 we’ve had 9,653 people ask for prayer (by filling out a prayer card), and 18,458 people pray over those cards.  Nearly 10,000 cards prayed over multiple times daily; this adds up to hundreds of thousands of prayers!  That’s amazing!  Our church has been marked by prayer.  In fact, I’ve said it’s the most important ministry of the church- any church! This month we’ve been learning to pray like Jesus.  Here’s why this is SO big.  Think about it: The KEY to your Christian life is not found in what you know about God, not even what you do for God, but in the intimacy that you have with God through Christ, and the character and the qualities that are produced as a result of that one relationship.  That’s the ONE thing He’s called you to.  And as Oswald Chambers has noted, it’s the one thing that will be constantly under attack in your life.  Are you committed to daily, consistent, intentional prayer?  How are you doing?  If you want to be a Kingdom person and allow His will to be done in your life, it will all start with prayer.

Thy Kingdom Come- Jeff Warren

10 Oct , 2007 2 Comments

Have you ever struggled in prayer?  The truth is we all have.  The tragic truth is that some of us have ceased to struggle.  In fact, we’ve stopped praying altogether.  Why is this?  I have a theory.  This may sound harsh to say but I believe it’s because many of us have been actually been praying wrong.  I discovered the key that unlocks prayer.This sounds simple, I know, but it’s learning to pray like Jesus.  So simple, but few of us do it.  Many of us are familiar with the prayer called the “Lord’s Prayer” and most of us are familiar with the phrase “Thy Kingdom come…” In fact, some of you know the rest of that phrase, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”  At the beginning of His ministry (and throughout the Gospels), Jesus came “preaching the Kingdom.”  In fact, most of His parables centered on this thing of the “Kingdom of God”.  In fact in Matthew 6:33, He said,  “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” 

What is the “Kingdom”?  

Jesus talked about the kingdom all the time.  Every parable is about the kingdom.  Most of them start with, “The Kingdom is like…”  Most of us think of the Kingdom as heaven- as some far off, some day, kind of place.  But Jesus says that we should pray for His Kingdom to come in the here-and-now.  We are to pray for His Kingdom to advance right now.  In fact, when the disciples asked, “When is this Kingdom coming; when are you going to bring this Kingdom?” Jesus said to His disciples that the Kingdom of God is among you- in fact, it is “within you”.  What is this Kingdom?  Well, a kingdom speaks of a king who is reigning, and of loyal subjects who pledge their allegiance to Him and who are following Him.  A Kingdom speaks of territory, of commerce, of an economy, and of values.  This is so important:

  • The Kingdom is wherever God rules.
  • The Kingdom is wherever God has dominion.  (power, control, dominance)

How, then, does His Kingdom come?  It comes as His people give Him rule over their lives.  It comes wherever His people are showing His power, His love through their lives.

  • The Kingdom is wherever God’s people are surrendered and are serving

Him.  Wherever God reigns over people is where the Kingdom of God is.

  • The Kingdom is wherever God is at work.  The Kingdom is wherever Jesus

shows up.  And Jesus shows up wherever His people are serving others, loving people in need, sharing His love with our world. Think about this: It seems that we’ve focused so much on Jesus as Savior- and that He is- but we’ve forgotten that He wants to be Lord of our lives.  Some of us have come to believe that once we’re saved, nothing else matters.  To be a Kingdom person means that you praise Him for saving you- but you realize that He has saved you in order that He might be LORD- Ruler, the reigning King of your life.    

What is His righteousness? 

Again, if we are to seek it- what is it?  And if we’re to seek it FIRST, we better figure out what it is and how we are to seek it!

  • Righteousness is the very character of God- namely, His holiness.

·         To be righteousness, simply put, is to be like Jesus.  Jesus is the perfect representation, the image of the character of God (His righteousness), lived out in human form.  It’s important to note that, as we receive the forgiveness of God through Christ and His sacrifice on the cross- we are made righteous by Him.  In fact, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that we have been “made the very righteousness of God in Him.”  And we are now to live the righteous life of Jesus.In the end then, a “Kingdom person” is a Jesus person.  And if desire to be a Kingdom person then Jesus becomes the Ruler in my life.  I give Him authority over every aspect of my life.  He reigns over my thoughts, my words, my checkbook, the decisions I make about how I spend HIS resources.  He reigns over my relationships, my calendar, my body, how I use His gifts given to me, how I spend my leisure time… He RULES.  Are you a Jesus person? 

The Question No One is Asking

12 Sep , 2007 1 Comment

There seems to be a consensus among leadership experts on what the most important quality of a great leader is.  Would you want to guess what it is?  Always at the top of the list is integrity.  Of course, the logic goes something like this: in order for people to follow you, you must be a trust-worthy person- a person of integrity.  Without trust, no one will follow you- so true.  As a leader, you must be able to build a high-trust culture so that your followers will come together and accomplish the collective vision of the leader together.  But what is integrity- really?  Integrity is generally understood as living according to a core set of values.  A person is said to have integrity if their entire life matches up with those core principles.  It’s similar to the word, “integrated”- it means that every area of life is joined together, combined, unified, an undivided or unbroken completeness.  (It’s like opening a book on any page and discovering the same consistent theme throughout).      

All of this sounds great in theory, but it doesn’t always work in practice.  And I think I know why.  There’s one question that no one is asking:  Where does integrity come from?  Are we born with it?  Do we just muster up integrity as we need it?  And if so, why do so many leaders fall?  Jesus instead, speaks of “righteousness”.  This is an attribute of moral purity belonging to God alone.  Jesus calls the “Righteous Father” in John 17:25. 

Paul says, “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one.’” Romans 3:10.  God alone is truly righteous.  No one in the world is righteous in the eyes of the Lord, that is, except… the Christian.  We are counted righteous in the eyes of God when we receive Jesus by faith.  Paul said he wants to “… be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”  Philippians 3:9  Our righteousness is based on what Jesus did on the cross.  The righteousness that was Christ’s is counted to us.  We, then, are seen as righteous in the eyes of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that we have become the very righteousness of God in Christ.  To be righteous is to be like Christ who said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that you desire the life of Jesus above all things in life.  To hunger and thirst for righteousness you must first realize that you’re hungry.

Three Questions to consider today:

1. Do I “hunger and thirst for righteousness”?

2. Do I need to be “merciful” to someone?  We often think mercy is simply withholding punishment on someone who deserves it.  But biblically, mercy is actually giving help and compassion to someone in need.  It’s an action word, not a passive word.

3. Do I really desire to be “pure in heart”?  Are you seeking and maintaining a pure heart?  “Pure” means unmixed, unadulterated, integrated- that’s integrity- a life that hungers and thirsts for righteousness (and has a bias toward active mercy and seeks always to be pure in heart).  If you live this way, you will be a Kingdom person, a world-changer, a difference-maker, an influencer, a leader.   Leading without power means that I know who has the power- and it’s not me.  I must live my life only in the power of God- ALL of this begins with confession (acknowledgement of my sin) and repentance- a recognition of what Christ has done for us.  It all starts with a transformed heart- from the inside-out.  And only God can do that.  Exchange your hard heart for the forgiveness of Jesus- and live and lead forgiven.   

Leadership Redefined

08 Aug , 2007 2 Comments

I love the story of the pastor who lived alone so he got a parrot because he thought it would be fun to have someone to talk to.  He hadn’t had the bird for long when he realized that all it would do was curse all the time.  (His friends wondered where the bird learned all these words).  A sweet, elderly widow in his church heard about his problem and said she had a parrot as well.  Her parrot, however, just sat around on her perch all day and prayed.  She offered this solution: Let’s put our two parrots together and perhaps mine will have a positive influence on yours!”  The pastor thought, “Why not?” so they put the widow’s parrot in the cage with his.  The pastor’s parrot move close to the female parrot and said, “Hey baby, what do you say we make beautiful music together?”  The little praying parrot looked up and said, “Praise God my prayers have been answered!”  Influence works both ways doesn’t it?  YOU are an influencer.  What kind of influence are you bringing to those around you?  There is perhaps no greater need in our world today than the need for leadership.  Think about it: All great countries, great schools, great communities, businesses, governments, and families have great leaders. Leadership matters.  Some see leadership as simply a position in an organization and as long you have the title of “leader” then you can power-up on others and order them around based on the authority and assumed power that you have because of your position.  Others define leadership in terms of the ability to manage the chaos of a rapidly changing world.  Peter Drucker, the great business guru, once made this distinction: “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”  Leadership may be all of these things but ultimately leadership is how you interact with yourself, God, your family, co-workers, partners in ministry, and the world around you.  In order to understand the vital nature of leadership, it is important that we define the term.     

Leadership redefined: A leader is a person involved in a process of influencing and developing others in order to accomplish God’s purpose, in God’s way, and in God’s power. 

Simply put… Leadership = Influence.  If you’re a parent your success as a parent is determined by your ability to influence your children in a positive way.  If you’re a teacher your success depends on your ability to influence your pupils.  If you’re a coach, a manager at work, if you’re a friend, a colleague, if you connect with people in any way you are an influencer.     Of course the greatest influencer and leader of all time is Jesus Christ.  One definition of leadership says, “It is the ability of a leader to affect human behavior so as to accomplish a mission.”  Well, if that’s it then Jesus is clearly the greatest leader of all time.  I remember at the turn of the new millennium, TIME magazine ran a cover article that was not the “Person of the Year” or the decade, or even the century, but the person of the millennium.  Guess who it was?  Jesus.  I remember thinking, yea and the millennium before that as well!  Jesus remains the greatest influencer of lives in our day- and He always will be.  And He leads in a way that no one will ever match.  I’ve embraced a daring assignment for the next few weeks.  I’ve been, for years, studying the leadership of Jesus- and trying to emulate it in my life as a husband, as a father, friend, and pastor.  I have been led to the Beatitudes as a model for leadership and influence in our day.   

Read the Beatitudes- Matthew 5 and see if the traits Jesus offers there describe your life.  I’m finding in the Beatitudes something I’ve never seen before: I believe that in the Beatitudes we find the ingredients necessary for leadership in our world today (and it has been an amazing journey for me thus far).  The BIG idea in this: In the Beatitudes Jesus describes what it is to be a person of influence.  Stay tuned… let’s explore this together!  I’ll post some more learnings soon!