97. I Had the Best Intentions But I Messed Up – Now What?
Maybe you made a decision at work, school or in your family that had a negative result.
You really had the best of intentions, but things still didn’t turn out the way you wanted. And really not because of some intentional sin, in fact, you were trying to do what was right.
(This is actually what happens to most politicians who try to help the poor or whoever, but unintentionally harm a different group of people or make the problem worse).
But now you feel guilty for making the wrong decision and bringing hardship on yourself and others.
At least if it was a sin, you could ask God for forgiveness.
Can you really ask forgiveness for using the wrong marketing strategy at work? Or for wanting to have family devotions at 7pm vs 9pm, when at 9pm the kids ended up being too tired? Or for buying your wife the wrong gift.
There can be a few reasons why things didn’t turn out.
Some of it could be simply you can’t control how other people are going to react. Sometimes we don’t have enough wisdom or talent. Some of it could be elements completely out of your control.
After the fact, with our hindsight we can pick apart everything we should have done differently… which can make us feel guilty.
I really like using the Peter walking on the water example. It was only when Peter took his eyes of of Christ and focused on the waves did he start to sink.
That’s us too. When we focus on what we should have done – it takes our eyes off of Christ and we start to sink spiritually and emotionally.
Guilt can keep our eyes off of Christ.
But Christ is the one in charge. Our mistakes aren’t going to somehow thwart His plans.
It’s not like God can’t accomplish His plans because of our mistakes.
God is still going to complete His work. Yes, our mistakes have consequences, but only up to a point.
It’s not like we can make enough mistakes to prevent the book of Revelation from coming to pass. God is still sovereign. And guess what, He can use our mistakes for our good.
Why did God promise,
RO 8:28 “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.”
If God can use our mistakes that means he has a higher goal in mind than for us to say that perfect thing to a family member, or make the perfect decision on how to deal with a situation. And specifically for you, that goal is to grow you spiritually.
So what do we do?
In humility, we have to accept our limitations. We need to ask forgiveness for focusing our eyes on what we should have done which prevents us from focusing our eyes where they should be – on Christ’s love and sovereignty. Then we need to praise Him for that love and sovereignty because we understand that…
Despite our limitations – God still sovereignly chooses to use us… because He loves us.
MT 14:25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. [26] When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
MT 14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
MT 14:28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
MT 14:29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. [30] But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
MT 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Take time to pray: Praise God for His sovereignty and love. Ask forgiveness for focusing on your mistakes rather than Him.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Peace.
96. Are You Comparing Your Spiritual Usefulness to Others?
Now before you get me wrong, I’m not talking about people who are feeling spiritually inadequate because they’re lazy and don’t bother do to anything.
I’m talking about people who are genuinely trying to do the will of God, but just don’t think they’re being as useful as some other Christian that seems to be affecting more people.
You have to remember this…
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God has created you differently than that other Christian that is affecting more people. You have a different role.
Spiritual success is not measured by how many people you affect – it’s measured by fulfilling what God has told you to do. Obedience.
If God asked you to minister to a single specific person at work, but instead you go and become a missionary to Hawaii – even though you might be ministering to dozens of people there, you are being disobedient to God.
If you are a mother, and you have been charged with raising that kid, then your God given task is to raise that kid in a godly way. How is obeying that task any less important than a pastor obeying his God given task?
If God has called you to be an accountant, then you possibly might be called to minister to people at your work. Maybe you’re supposed to lead Sunday School at church. And of course you’re always supposed to be ministering to your family.
So what do I do?
To be spiritually ‘useful’, really is obedience. And to be obedient we have to know what God wants us to do. And to know what he wants us to do, we have to look to see where we fit into the body of Christ.
To do this we need to look at two things: 1. How God made you, and 2. Where God has you.
1. How God made you.
Take stock of your gifts, talents and resources which equal your callings (see this devotional for more).
Ask your friends and family to help you think about what your gifts, talents and resources are.
Don’t just think about the type of job you might have, think of things like what types of people are you good with. Think of the things you’ve dealt with in the past that may help others.
2. Where God has you.
Then match up your callings (your gifts, talents and resource) with situations or people (see this devotional for more on this).
Situations. Situations would be things like which job should I take, how should I raise my kids, should I join the worship team, should we host Thanksgiving dinner?
People. Think about the people in your life. Do you have something that clicks with them?
God has designed us differently for different purposes, all for his glory. We just need to figure out how he designed us and for what purposes if we are to maximize our service and obedience to him.
So ultimately what I’m trying to say is this, figure out your place in the body of Christ and be content to be what God created you to be. And don’t compare yourself to some other Christian, some pastor or a good looking, devotional writing Asian.
1CO 12:14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [15] If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? [18] But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. [19] If they were all one part, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Take Time To Pray: Ask God to help you figure out where in the body of Christ you are and gratefulness for creating you how He did.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness. Faithfulness to stick to what God has planned for you.
95. Why shouldn’t we tell people ‘Be Anything You Want to Be’?
It’s a phrase that’s meant to inspire people to accomplish their dreams. But really it’s totally wrong.
Sorry to be a downer, but you can’t be anything you want to be.
No matter how hard I try and how much practice I put in, I will never be an NBA basketball player, a concert pianist or Celine Dion.
Now this reality check might sound a bit harsh, but what really is harsh is someone wasting their life trying to do something they were never designed to do.
God has designed you a certain way – because God has a purpose for you.
He’s made you a certain gender, He’s made you look a particular way, He’s given you a certain personality. All for a reason.
Some people are outgoing, some are shy, some are leaders, some are supporters, some are motherly.
Some people are good a public speaking, singing, graphic design, cooking, or computers.
God has done all this because He has given you purpose by giving you a function in the body of Christ.
I have been asked to speak at churches before, but they will never ask me run the nursery. Those kids would be running out into the halls within five minutes. With poop stains.
I can help family members with their computers, but if they wanted my help with cooking, they’d better like Cheetos.
Yeah, we’d all like to be something super awesome like an actor, athlete or Celine Dion. But that’s for selfish purposes. We want to be famous and rich, but God doesn’t always need famous and rich.
Sometimes He needs humble and caring. Sometimes He needs a nurse that will console someone who is suffering. Sometimes He needs someone to cook the meals for the sick.
God has given you a purpose.
So what do we do?
First, we need to thank him for making us who we are – with the particular gifts, talents and resources he’s blessed us with and stop wanting to be something else.
Then we need to figure out how we fit into the body of Christ…
What types of people are we good at ministering to? What types of situations? Where has God given us the time and resources to help? The trick is to keep our eyes open. Opportunities for ministry are everywhere, we just need to see them.
So instead of trying to be something that you want to be for your own reasons, try to find out what God has designed you to be. And when you are living in obedience to God like that, you will be happier than if you were living your dream as a cheeseburger.
(For more on figuring out your callings go to this devotional – which is a part of a larger series.)
1CO 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. [13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
1CO 12:14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [15] If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? [18] But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. [19] If they were all one part, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
1CO 12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” [22] On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, [24] while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, [25] so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. [26] If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Take time to pray: Ask God for the humility to want to live out His purpose for your life rather than wishing He made you different.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness.
94. When Things are Going Wrong – How Can I Find Peace?
The problem when we don’t have peace is that we’re taking too much pressure on ourselves.
There’s only so much we can do. But as much as we’d like to think we are, we are not in control of the universe.
We all want to be our own god. We want our own sense of justice administered in this world. We want to have control over what is going to happen and how people treat us.
But I’ve found out, that I’m not a god. I’m just a little, tiny, weak, good looking sinner.
I don’t control the weather, or the economy, politics, the real estate market, or my boss, or my parents, or my kids, or my spouse, or American Idol.
All the stresses those things place on me make me realize more and more how small I am.
Some of us stay up and night thinking about what we can do to fix the situation. Or we get in a bad mood, or we let the stress build up between us and our spouse, parents/kids, coworkers, whoever. Or we spend time dreading a situation that hasn’t even arrived yet. Or we have theoretical arguments running through our heads.
We think we have the necessary amount of control to make a difference.
We go past the part of just coming up with a plan of action, but we go on and internalizing the pressure by thinking that what we do or don’t can fix or ruin a situation.
But we are not God. We do not control the universe. We don’t control people’s hearts, or society, or the economy. We are weak.
But you know what?
Understanding our weakness is half the point.
The other half of is our response to understanding that weakness.
Listen to these verses about our weakness.
2 Cor 12[9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Wow, that’s a powerful verse.
So what do we do?
How do we “delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties”?
His grace is made perfect when we understand our weakness and frailty and stop believing that we control things, and that it is only God who controls things, and that He controls things for our good, because He has an all-powerful love for us.
So we need to do three things when things are going wrong and we are trying to find peace.
1. As you pray, praise God for his sovereignty (his ability to control the universe), and that he uses this control in whatever situation you’re dealing with because he loves us.
2. Pray for wisdom so you know what God wants you to do in this situations that’s bothering you.
3. Pray for humility so you understand that our strength comes from this humility, by knowing we must simply be obedient, and that the rest is up to God.
When we don’t have peace, a lot of times it’s really because we don’t feel like God is in control – and that’s an insult to God.
So remember…
Don’t freak out, God knows what he’s doing.
2 Cor 12[9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Take time to pray: Praise God for his sovereignty and love. Delight in your weakness, because God’s grace is enough.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Peace.
93. What’s the Quickest Way to Become Spiritually Useless?
There’s a ton of things that are awesome and you take out one element and it becomes useless? Like taking out an engine out of a Ferrari, or taking out the battery from your smartphone, or taking bacon out of a salad.
It’s the same thing with our spiritual lives.
There’s one super quick, efficient way to completely make all that you spiritually do, all your ministries, all your effort, completely useless. Just take out one element.
Love.
1CO 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Now you might say, “Well, duh. Of course.” But is that how we live our lives?
Is that what is reflected in our families and relationships?
When our kids or spouse are annoying, is the first thing that pops into our head is, “I will correct them in love.” I dunno about you, but the first thing that pops in my head is, “I’m right. And you’re stupid.”
If we don’t speak in love, correct in love, discipline in love, then we are not ministering to our family.
If we don’t love our classmates or co-workers, we cannot minister to them.
According to the Bible, we are a clanging cymbal. We’re noise.
To minister, we have to be love, we have to embody love.
And one of the hardest things to do is embody love when your spouse is yelling at you for something you’re pretty sure you didn’t do and can reasonably blame the kids for because they’re not around to contradict you.
How much love do we want to show when our kids are talking back to us?
That’s why the passage continues on and says…
1CO 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
So just wait about two minutes till after you’re done reading this, and you’ll start talking to your spouse, kids or parents, and they’ll for sure be short with you or do something dum. It is possible for you to not raise your voice? Is it possible for you to correct them in a loving manner?
When you come home, can you greet everyone with love in mind? When you do this dishes, is it out of love?
So what do we do?
Love isn’t something you just decide to have. It’s a long slow process.
But there are two practical things you can do to intentionally grow love.
1. Make sure you add praying for a loving heart into your daily prayer.
2. Understand God’s love more so you can in turn love more… Which means being devoted to his Word because only when we understand the depths of his love for us despite our sin, will we be able to in turn love our fellow sinners more.
Love is something that we don’t just have, it’s something we grow. It’s a type of lens that we see other people through hopefully more and more over time.
1CO 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Take Time To Pray: Pray that you can treat your family (or whoever) in love today so as to minister to them.
92. What Should I Do When Someone is Guilty?
Our opinion of someone shapes how quickly we jump to a certain conclusion about them.
All people have their own tendencies which shapes our perception of them.
Your little brother Billy always leaves the milk out. Sister Susie eats all the pudding. And dad? Well, apparently he’s the one who’s at fault for everything else.
Yes, if someone has created a pattern of behavior, we can make an educated guess on who’s at fault.
But so what? It’s really not about finding out the truth. Just for a second, just assume they are guilty. Now what?
Does someone’s guilt give us any reason to treat them any differently than if they were innocent?
Let’s assume for a second that your kids didn’t throw their uneaten tacos away even though you told them to. Do you now treat them with any less love than if they obeyed?
What you will say to them will change of course, but should it change how you treat them?
For an example, we just have to look to how Christ talked to sinners in John 4 and John 8. He spoke to them out of love.
We do not just show love to the innocent but to the guilty.
Not only that, but shouldn’t our love for the guilty include wanting to make sure they don’t sin further?
So if it’s within our responsibility, we should be showing love by figuring out how we can help them turn from sinning to glorifying God.
In the example of our kids being disobedient, we need to figure out how to discipline with love, along with teaching them that it’s not about the tacos, but about glorifying God because it’s obedience to his command of honor your father and mother.
The fact they were guilty actually should motivate us to ministry.
So what do we do?
There is no magic bullet for this to make this happen overnight because this is a transformation of our outlook of our relationship with others.
We have to view ourselves as ministers first – where our ministry is to help people glorify God.
Galatians 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds
It’s not about finding guilt, but reducing it – through ministry.
So start this ministry with the people closest to you. Not only will it help them, but it will also help you because if they are sinning and glorifying God more, you become a recipient of that. There will be less conflict, which lowers your chance of sinning as well.
And when both parties aren’t busy sinning against each other, there will be more opportunity for glorifying God and for ministry.
And when will you know you’re getting to that point where your outlook has changed from finding guilt to ministry? It’s when others see it, and you develop a pattern of behavior where people say, “That dude never says anything bad about anyone. They’re so positive and loving. I wish I could be their friend and give them $50.”
And in case that’s what you where thinking about me, I accept all major credit cards.
Galatians 6:1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds
Take Time To Pray: Ask God to help you think ministry first in your relationships.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Love.
91. How Do I Deal with Arguments When I’m Right
I’m not taking about disagreeing – of course that’s gonna happen. I’m talking about arguing.
And of course you think you’re right. Why would you argue something you don’t believe?
But what happens is that people believe that…
…being right about an argument justifies the argument.
That’s how we all act. When we’re right about something, we go all out.
But who bothered to stop to think about if it’s even right to argue?
And what really is the source of argument? The source is needing to be right.
The source is pride.
Pride puts being right in front of love, in front of patience.
Pride puts being right over the relationship with the other person.
So what do we do?
When getting into an argument, we have to take a step back. We first have to make sure we don’t get angry simply for the fact that they don’t agree with us. We have to be patient.
Which would be fine if they weren’t upset either, so you have to try to make sure they don’t lose their patience either – which can be difficult.
One super practical way of not allowing things to get out of hand is just trying to smile, or joke around a bit to take the edge off the tone. For me, the simple act of smiling helps the other person know I’m not mad and want to have a discussion, not an argument.
We then have to be humble. A lot of times it doesn’t really matter if we’re right or not. It’s not like we get into a lot of arguments of if we should cut the blue wire or green wire to disarm a bomb, and if you pick the wrong one, you die. Sometimes you just have to let it go.
However, if you can’t because you’re in a situation where a decision must be made and you are responsible for the decision, having patience along with humility will keep you from sinning and allow you to think clearly.
Because we still have to reach the ultimate goal, which is showing love. Yes, even when a decision must be made, there still is a higher goal. Because even if you are right, if you were sinful getting there, you are still wrong.
You display love for the person, while disagreeing with their statements. Separate the two.
Then pray for wisdom on how love should be displayed. How are you going to phrase your words? How will you use a loving tone? Or do you let them be wrong for a little longer? Is there a polite way out of the argument?
Just remember, the ultimate goal is to show love, not to be ‘right’.
Then maybe we’ll be able to settle our differences in a loving manner, and you’ll come to realize that I was right all along.
PR 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
1CO 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Take Time To Pray: Ask God to help you to have a heart of humility and love, and to watch out for pride.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Love
90. How Do We Deal with Judgmentalism?
People are judgmental. Look, I know it looked bad. But there is a very good reason why I was wearing that dress.
There’s a bunch of ways for people to end up being judgmental. Here’s a couple.
1. We just don’t know the other side of the story.
Like you could come in from working overtime and were expecting dinner but instead see your wife, who didn’t work that day, just sitting down watching TV. You can immediately think she’s self-centered and lazy. But maybe the kids were insane and she had to deal with them all afternoon and this is the only time she’s had to sit down.
In your rush to judgment, you didn’t understand her reasons for her behavior.
2. We think we are smarter than we are.
This happens every second when talking politics.
For example, some people think it’s so clear to them that if you don’t believe in taxing the rich more, then you obviously don’t care about the poor, the elderly and puppies. But really you both want to help the poor but you have a different economic theory.
Or we judge the way a parent raises their child because we of course are the source of all parental wisdom.
Or we judge a family member for their sin because we totally know how to avoid sin.
What do both of those ways of being judgmental have in common?
Self-righteousness.
In one way, we believe we know the whole story. The other way we believe we know truth.
But if we are so awesome, they why are we still sinners just like them?
We shouldn’t be standing in judgment over them. That’s not our place. That’s God’s.
So if God is judging them, what should we be doing?
We should be thinking about ministering to them despite their guilt, even because of their guilt.
If someone is sinning, if it is your place, shouldn’t you try to help prevent them from sinning and try to get them to glorify God more?
It will be hard to minister to someone if we are judging them because ministry is about love, not about being right.
If your wife flips out on the kids, how will it help to feel superior? You want to prevent her from sinning like that, so you’ll need listen to her and see what the issues are and figure out the areas you can help.
Now what if your wife flips out on you? Same thing. But because it’s an attack on us, we want to defend the truth of our position rather than doing exactly what we did in the previous example – which is to listen and see what the issues are and figure out the areas you can help.
Okay great, we get it… Judgmental… bad. Love… good. We knew that.
So what do we do?
What we want to happen is when we’re faced with a tough situation; we’re ready to respond correctly.
We can’t expect someone who has never practiced shooting a basketball to hit a bunch of three-pointers in the middle of an intense game.
The same way we must train if we are to be prepared when situations arise.
So what do we have to work on, and how should we work on them?
1. Self-righteousness. This really is about humility. This can only be worked on when we understand God – specifically how awesome he is and how sinful we are.
Understanding only comes from studying about his attributes and works and our nature through scripture. Through devotions, Bible studies, church, etc. http://decapolis.com/tag/humility
(I hope you didn’t think that overcoming judgmentalism would happen overnight.)
2. Patience.
Using that first example, when you walked in on your wife sitting down watching TV, if you don’t have patience, you don’t stand a chance.
You need to give yourself two seconds to not get angry. How can you expect to minister if you’re too busy yelling?
Patience gives you that chance of not yelling. Hopefully long enough for you to get their side of the story and not have self-righteousness kick in immediately.
So we need to train our patience through prayer and practice.
http://decapolis.com/tag/patience
3. Minister
If we can get past our self-righteousness, and not yell, we can finally move on to what we’re supposed to do – which is minister.
Remember, it’s not about being right, it’s about being godly.
The point isn’t to win the argument, or prove that your economic theory is correct. The issue is helping them with their situation or sin.
So listen. Get their side of the story. Let them talk.
Maybe they are bonkers. But show love, show that you care.
To grow in ministry, we need to be working on love and wisdom – love for others and wisdom to know what to do.
And hopefully with these three things: humility, patience and ministry, we can stop judging others but rather make a difference in their lives.
Matthew 7:1-3
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Take time to pray: Ask for a loving spirit and one that is focused on ministering rather than judging.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Love and Patience.
89. Why is it that I don’t seem to sin less the more I spiritually mature?
I’ve been thinking… I’m probably the best Christian I know.
Now if that sounds weird, well, it should. Deep down there’s an inherent contradiction by saying that.
It’s kind of like that one incident in 2008 where a guy in a movie theater shot other people because they were talking during the movie. Granted, they were watching “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” so maybe it’s a little understandable he was a little insane.
Now what would annoy you more during a movie? Talking? Or gunfire? It’s a contradiction.
It’s the same thing with believing you are a great Christian.
You would think that the the closer you are to God – the less you sin.
But in reality, the more you spiritually mature, the more sin you see in yourself. It’s just that you weren’t spiritually mature enough to see that sin before.
It’s like God is this big bright light. The further you are from the light, the less dirt you see on yourself. But the closer you get to the light, the more dirt you see.
And remember, we get closer to God, the more humble we are.
James 4:6 “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.
As we grow closer to God, we start to understand that we don’t judge our goodness in comparison to other Christians, but in comparison to a perfect God.
So what do we do now?
We want to guard against the natural sense of pride. That somehow we are better that others that either aren’t as spiritual as us, or have different political views, or are big fat jerks.
We all have a tendency to think we’re better than someone out there – especially people we have problems with. This prevents us from growing closer to God since “God opposes the proud”.
So we need to think about the people we feel superior to and instead of feeling better than them, we need to feel love for them and then pray for them.
We are not superior to them, we are sinners just like them. While they have their sins, so do we.
So let’s not add pride to one of those sins.
Our spiritual maturity should bring about humility, which brings us closer to God as well as other people.
And a spiritually mature person knows not to shoot people in a theater. I mean, come on, there’s like a ton of witnesses.
Proverbs 3:6-7 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness. Take time to pray for wisdom and humility.
88. What Do I Do About My Doubt?
Matthew 14:28 ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’
When Peter was walking on the water, he eventually lost focus on Christ and focused on the wind and the waves, then started to sink. This is a great analogy for our own lives. Our waves are, “How am I supposed to pay off my financial debt,” “How am I supposed to repair my relationship,” and “How am I supposed to eat this pound of bacon?”
If we use this account as an analogy, we are Peter, the waves are the difficulties that arise, and Christ is, well, Christ. That’s the same in this passage and in real life. That one’s not that hard.
No one intends to doubt. Half the times we pray we’re all excited about what we’re going to do for God.
But then we get bills, or someone gets sick, or our basement floods, or politics go the wrong way, or the value of our home dropped, or our investments tanked, or unexpected repairs needs to be made, or hitting traffic causing you to be late for work, or having a terrible boss.
And instead of solidly walking on water, we start to sink. We get this feeling of dread or unease. We lose our peace.
That’s when we know we’re sinking. Loss of peace. Even if it’s just a bit. Half the times the waves are two inches high and we don’t have peace.
The thing we have to remember that we’re all nervous while Christ is standing right there.
But he doesn’t just save us from the waves…
He controls the wind and the waves.
We also need to remember that even though Peter took his eyes off of Christ and started to sink, Christ did not let him drown. He reached in and pulled Peter out.
So even if we don’t have faith, Christ still does not let us drown. Yeah we’ll still get wet and you’ll be soaked, but you won’t drown.
So what do we do?
It’s easy to say, “keep your eyes focused on Him.” But what does that really mean?
You need to do two things.
1. Know his promises.
You have to have faith in His promises (which are in the Bible) like Romans 8:28. But just cause we know these promises that “all things work together for the good of them that love God,” that doesn’t mean we actually feel peace right away. So we have to work at it.
It’s because there’s more to it than just knowing his promises. We have to believe it and also act on it.
Keep a few key verses/promises in mind and be honest with yourself and God and ask God to help you to get to the point where you don’t just know his promises but you believe in them to much that it gives you a real peace.
2. Know the one who made the promises.
So yeah, know what his promises are – but also learn about the attributes of one who made those promises. Then focus on those.
God is faithful. God is sovereign. He is all-powerful. And above all, he is love.
Again, this is about scripture, but instead of verses like promises, look for passages that speak of God’s attributes, or passages like the story of Joseph of someone who went through trials and you saw why God allowed bad things to happen.
If you read a passages like the story of Joseph you can see why God allowed bad things to happen – because he had a larger plan. Hopefully reading a passage like that will help you understand God and how he does things better. And hopefully knowing God more will help you trust him more.
So if we want to overcome doubt then we need to read passages that help you learn about on the one you are doubting because whether we like to admit it or not…
Our doubt is really based in our doubt of him.
We think that he can’t save us from the wind and the waves – so we freak out.
So we need to do our best to stay focused by being devoted to passages that remind us of his faithfulness.
So as you go about your day and you’re hit by wave after wave…
…focus your eyes on Christ by trusting in both his promises and who he is.
Matthew 14:25-32 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. [26] When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’
Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness.
Take time to Pray: Ask God for faith in times of trouble.
Copyright © 1999-2012 Decapolis. Friend us
on Facebook 
, follow us on Twitter 
, or subscribe to our RSS feed 
.
About Us | Contact | Frequently Asked Questions