Thoughts on Opportunity & Influence

Father in heaven, show me a greater glimpse of your glory!

As Christ-followers we need to look for opportunities to show Christ to others through our joy, our peaceful spirit, our grace, our forgiveness, and our love. So often it seems that I am not actively looking for or making the most of the God-given opportunities that come my way. Maybe you have had similar experiences. If so, join me in asking the King to break your stony heart and to soften your hardened heart. Father, make us vulnerable before you and allow us to be intimate with you so that we can hear and discern your will for our lives. Above all, help us Lord to make the most of each and every opportunity!

Think about your influence. Who do you influence? How do you influence them? What message(s) do you send to others? Do the people at your job, at school, in your own family even know you are a Christ-follower? I have been contemplating this very thought. I am wondering if the students at the school I teach at know who I really am. Do the football players on the team I coach know that I am sold out for Jesus? Does my family realize that I live for the King and seek to serve Him and His people above all else? I guess there are two ways to address this issue: either you can boldly proclaim your faith to others OR you can live your life in such a way that people can tell that there is something special about you. I believe Christians should be actively doing BOTH. There are times to boldly proclaim, but more often we need to simply heed the words of the Apostle Paul:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Christ has given each of us the opportunity to influence others by living a Godly life – let’s be obedient and do just that!

Application: In order to determine what opportunities the Lord is giving you, I challenge you this week to spend some significant time in His presence and the Word. The Lord will speak to us when we spend tie with Him. I have tried to make excuses of busyness and I have not time before; no more!  I am drawing a line in the sand and making a commitment to make worship and prayer time with God a priority. I have learned that whatever things in your life you make your top priorities, those are the things you value the most. How much do you value your walk with the Lord? The time you spend with Him cultivating your relationship is the only way to answer that question. Join me in seeking God this week. Let’s hold each other accountable.

Christ Must Increase; I Must Decrease

Help me Lord and Forgive me God for my misguided priorities and my flawed perspective. I desire humility and seek forgiveness for my pride. Lord, I exalt thee!

The secret – at least for me – of knowing your God-given purpose is to spend time communicating (talking, but especially listening to) God. It may mean, like it does for me, that you need to inconvenience yourself to spend time with your King. I have discovered that I am actually pretty selfish. Not with material possessions or even my money, but with my time. I want to “spend” my time on what I want. I want to do what I want to do and in the process I forget about God’s desires and plans for my life…unless or until it is all of a sudden convenient for me to remember. This remembering God or making time for God usually occurs oh somewhere around 10 am on Sunday mornings and 7 pm on Wednesday nights (at youth group), and maybe occasionally during my quiet time in the morning. Forgive me Lord for my misguided priorities and flawed perspective. Forgive me for my selfishness.

In John 1:26-27, John the Baptist tells the Pharisees questioning him, “…among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Upon further investigation I learned that In Bible times disciples would perform all sorts of “acts of service” for their rabbis (teachers). But, loosing sandal thongs was expressly excluded as disciple work for a rabbi because it was considered slave work. In other words, John is saying that he is not even worthy to do the lowest of low tasks for the Son of Man who will be coming after him.

Later, in John 3:30, John responds to one of his complaining disciples who says, “Everyone is going to him (Jesus) – to be baptized.” John says to this disgruntled and selfish/prideful follower of his, “He must become greater; I must become less.” John goes on to say that he is like the friend of the bridegroom at a wedding – who WAITS and LISTENS for him (the bridegroom) and is FULL OF JOY when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. When John heard and saw Jesus baptizing, he said, “my joy is now complete.” Why would he make such a remark? John the Baptise realized that his God-given purpose of preparing the way for Jesus had been fulfilled. John fulfilled his role and moved out of the way to let Jesus do his thing. It’s as if John realized the inter-dependency of his humility and the resulting glory given to Christ.

Application: When people are complimentary to you and thanking you, and praising you, be aware enough to move out of the way of God’s glory and direct the compliments, thanksgiving, and praise heavenward to the King of kings and Lord of lords.