Check Please!

Over the past few months God challenged me with one simple question; “Do you live to please people or do you live to please Me?” Life is a constant battle, we seek acceptance from friends, desire attention from loved ones, strive for the appreciation of leaders, yearn to be acknowledged by the one and long for the approval of our parents while on an unmerited pursuit to earn the favour of God.

“Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.” Romans 5:18-19 (MSG)

Adam and Jesus were both created by God and purposed as life giving vessels, Adam and Eve vessels for humanity and Jesus a vessel for eternity, created for the same destiny, but resulting in different destinations all because of one simple decision.

Why the different outcomes one might ask? Adam bowed down to the created (Eve) and Jesus bowed down to His creator (God). Adam lived for one and all died, but Jesus lived for one and died for all.

 “And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you.  All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.” Genesis 3:17 (NLT)

Every generation from that point onward was cursed as a result of Adam’s one act of disobedience. He was in good council yet he didn't seek the council of God when faced with a simple choice. If you choose to make decisions based on your feelings towards the people around you, it will steer you away from all God intends to accomplish through you. Our reason for living is to make others happy without letting our happiness depend on others. If you strive for the approval of people and receive it, you will always be striving to maintain it, you might start to feel like a burden and eventually burn out.

When you are a people pleaser you will in-turn become a people praiser; thanking people for the recognition they give you instead of thanking God for using you as a vessel of His goodness.

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” Romans 6:16

Then God sent Jesus, whose decisions to follow God’s will above all else gave us eternal life. People tried to distract Him from His destiny, He, however, decided to follow God’s will instead of the people’s pleas.

“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Matthew 16: 21-23

Often those closest to us think they know what’s best for us, but our future extends far beyond us therefore we need to be selfless in our decisions. We are just a spec in God’s spectacular plan therefore we need to surrender our life to God and not to people to live in true freedom.

“Human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.” Acts 17:25

God doesn't need us to please Him either. He didn't create us to serve Him, He created us to serve one another. God said it is not good for man to be alone so He created Eve the trouble comes in when we turn to others before turning to Jesus. All God desires is our gratitude in exchange for His grace and every act of obedience is an act of gratitude. Instead of staying in the season we are in to make others happy, we should continue reinventing ourselves in the identity of Christ.

The only way to explain it is to look at those who create, Peter, Paul and the rest who established the early Church, artists, authors, and poets such as Emily Dickinson, Anne Frank, Vincent van Gogh and John Keats. All of these created because they had a passion and love for their craft but only achieved recognition long after they were gone. Just like God created us but only received the proper recognition He desired after the death and resurrection of Jesus. If we continue to serve people and love God because we have a passion for Jesus and an innate desire to see the world know the same Jesus that saved us, I believe that our will, will always line up with the will of God.

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 (NIV)

I Can See You Now

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. John 1: 10-11 (NIV)

The Bible tells us over and over again to have faith in the things we do not see, to have hope in the promises that have not come to pass, but today my question to you is, do you have faith in the things that you do see? Let me explain, if a man came up to you right now with all the characteristics of Jesus, would you believe Him? I doubt I would, and I feel guilty for it. Sometimes it’s easier to have faith in the things that we do not see than believe in the things that we do see. Jesus has always looked at us with love in His eyes but due to our impaired vision of trust in today’s modern world we may find it difficult to recognise the full extent of God’s glory!

I sometimes wonder why we don’t see miracles to the extent of those in the former days; like people being raised from the dead or others surviving the pits of fire? You see God hasn’t changed, we’ve changed! His word hasn’t dissolved, the world has evolved. It has evolved to the extent that every day miracles are written off as coincidences or close calls and the power of success is as a result of our hard work rather than His favour. If we continue giving the works of the world credit for the goodness of God then we will keep evolving until we don’t recognise God at all.

So how do we recognise the work of God amongst the works of the flesh?

No man has ever seen God at any time; the only unique Son, or the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom [in the intimate presence] of the Father, He has declared Him [He has revealed Him and brought Him out where He can be seen; He has interpreted Him and He has made Him known]. John 1:18

God will ALWAYS make Jesus known. Just as our eyes are drawn to anything light in a dark room, we need to continuously recognise that anything good in our life or in the lives of others is as a direct result of His grace! It is our responsibilities as “witnesses” of Christ to not only recognise Him but to give Him recognition for every good work.

Recognising the Holy Spirit in Another’s Life

John's Account

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” John 1:32-24

It is important for us to have a great intuition when it comes to recognising Christ followers within our everyday walk of life. When we realise we are not alone we are able to strengthen each other making the battle for salvation a whole lot easier.

Recognising Jesus Through an Intimate Relationship

Mary's Account

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. John 20:13-14

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:16

If you close your eyes and someone speaks, you can easily identify who is speaking. If we have a close relationship with God, we can recognise His voice without the need of having to see Him. The better you get to know someone the easier it is to sense their presence; from their footsteps to their laugh to their cough and even their sneezes. Just like each of us are unique, so is God. His voice is unique amongst all the other sounds in our head, if we spend more time being attentive to His voice I believe we will be able to hear God’s voice before standing in His presence.

Recognising Gods Workmanship

Thomas' Account:

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:27-28

We are provided with miracles yet we still say statements like “I don’t believe it”, “How could this be”, “It won’t last” “Something bad is bound to happen” Sometimes a touch of God is not good enough, we find it difficult to believe in the power of a miracle, we think our blessings will be rob if we “jinx” it and we need to touch wood if we speak something bad over our lives or the lives of others. A touch of God is greater than being strangled by hopelessness, God gave us everything so why would he take away anything, Jesus’ life was laid down so that we could rise up.

Jesus poses this question "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?" John 3:12

At the end of John Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, Peter replied yes consecutively. Then Jesus instructs Peter to feed his sheep. In order to feed the sheep of Jesus, Peter needs to recognise who the Shepard is so that he can take on a similar role. As disciples we are called to bear witness to Christ, a witness gains knowledge from observation or experience. The more observant we become of Christ in our daily lives the better we fulfill our God given roles. When Jesus comes again, may it be tomorrow or in a thousand years from now, I want to be able to recognise Him without a doubt… do you?

Active vs. Passive Christian

I want to pose this question to you; “What is the point of going to church if you are not going to let it change you?”

⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” Luke 6:47-49

It’s so easy to hear God’s word and not listen, to pray without concentration, to believe without conviction, to have faith without trust and to change without the intention to make a change.

The majority of us are driven individuals, if we want to achieve a specific goal we actively pursue it until we succeed so shouldn’t we carry the same mentality into our walk with Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t we stop at nothing to see our friends and family saved and be compassionate and loving to every single person who crosses our path? I love what Brian Houston says in his new book How To Maximise Your Life, “To have a Kingdom spirit means you have a vision that is bigger than you – you will always be devising generous strategies or plans to bless others.” Jesus actively pursued his purpose without hesitation he was always moving and bringing about change to crowds of people. He never gave up until the very end when “It was done”.

People often like to compare the Holy Spirit to the wind, “You can’t see it, but you can feel it”. If the spirit who lived in Christ now lives in us then we too should be free and moving like the wind touching everyone and changing everything in our path. We can choose to be a subtle breeze or a gale force wind. A breeze is comfortable, people delight in it, but it doesn’t bring about change, the leaves only move a short distance until the breeze dies down. A gale force wind however, is uncomfortable, people try to hide from it, but it moves and affects everything around it. It doesn’t only move one or two leaves but a whole bunch of leaves will soon follow the motion of the wind. I want to encourage you to actively pursue God like a gale force wind, it may make you feel uncomfortable, people may try to avoid the truth, hide behind walls of empty promises but gale force winds are able to bend the firmest trees. You will inspire others to come along with you and with that motion many more people will venture on the journey too. Your willingness to never give up will bend and shape the mindset of those you deem as completely lost. When the truth moves it brings about change.

We weren’t saved just to be well behaved. We weren’t called to push people away but to point them to the way. We were chosen to reach further and make a different with every motion. We made our decision to ensure that people hear the truth with great precision.

You see we are so focused on being loved that we forget that our mission is to love everyone else unconditionally. With the power that Jesus had he could have easily built himself up and become one of the most loved individuals at that time. But he loved us more than his desire to be loved, he delivered the truth and although it made people feel uncomfortable, he was unapologetic about it which led to his crucifixion.

Can I encourage you to actively pursue God’s calling in your life, don’t sit back and allow others to do the job for you. Yes the church may have amazing leaders but you too can become a great leader and Jesus may be our shepherd but “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” Luke 6:40. We will never be Jesus but we can try with all our might to live by the principles he lived by, leading by example in every area of our life.

Jesus left the earth and entrusted us with the responsibility to carry out the message of his good works in the generations to come and nothing feels worse than disappointing your father. Follow God persistently with a pure heart in 2014 and I can promise you that you will see God’s blessing in every area of your life as well as in the life of others.