Changing Your Character, Not Your Performance

"Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." - James 5:7-11

Do you feel like the world around you is falling apart? Like you have no sense of direction and you have began to simply float through life uncared for and unaided?

Me too.

There are so many things to worry about in this life, aren't there? My job, my wife, my finances, but you know what I worry about the most? That what I'm doing today, right now isn't pleasing God. That I should be doing something profound, like healing people miraculously or speaking in tongues in front of a huge crowd. Sure, those things have there place, but we have forgotten something:

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31

In your household, do you treat your kids, your wife, and yourself like Jesus? Do you build up with your words and not tear down? Truly, it is the little things in life that matters (or what seems to be the little things). Do you love your Christian brothers and sisters as your should or do you gossip about them in your free time?

Be patient.

Quit being anxious about if what you are doing is for God, and make what you are doing be for God. I may be washing the dishes, but how many prayers could I offer up to God in that amount of time? And perhaps I expect my wife to repay me, forget about it.

Take these steps to change your character in life to being a steadfast Christian, and quit wishing you were one. As someone told me today,

"Nothing is hard, it's just learning to do it."

So may the community of Christians together learn to live steadfastly under the rule and love of God.

1. Add some discipline into your life. Most of the time, adding discipline in one area of your life will quickly drip into others areas and create a domino effect. Wake up early to read your Bible, start exercising, or simply sit for ten or twenty minutes to "be still and know that [He] is God."

2. Get healthy. Many people today deny the fact that physical wellbeing directly effects spiritual wellbeing. Well, it does, whether you choose to believe it or not. God created the two to be deeply intertwined and until we get a handle on our physical bodies and learn to "die to them" every day, our spiritual life will be quite difficult. Eat healthy, exercise, and go on walks.

3. Start your day with some silence. We don't like to be still and be in silence because than we are faced with ourselves (and nobody wants to sit down and think of all the wrong they did and how they can improve). In fact, we prefer to crowd our lives with noise so that we don't have to examine ourselves but can continue living in sin. So start out your day by grabbing a cup of coffee (of course), your Bible, and the peace and quiet that comes with a rising sun and be focused on God, whatever that looks like for you.

Be patient.

Blessings.

Love the Poor

"Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you." James 5:1-6

This is a difficult passage for me, and I think it should be the same for ninety percent of the American population. Why? Because James is specifically addressing the rich. "Come now, you rich." And, as we all know, America is incredibly rich. So perhaps this is a good time for our ears to perk up and hear what James has to say.

"Weep and howl..."

Not looking very promising...

"Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten..."

*Nonchalant Whistling*

"Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire."

Crap.

Is being rich wrong? Nope. Think of King David, I'm betting he wasn't the poorest in town, and yet God had a deep and enduring relationship with him. You don't have to be poor to have a relationship with God, and you don't have to be rich either. Why does James condemn these rich people then? Because of their greed and their fraud. Being rich is indeed a temptation, thus why Jesus says that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (of course all things are possible with God), but being rich is not a sin in itself.

What then must we do? Whether we are rich or poor, glorify God. Do this my living humbly.

1. Take some money out of your budget this month solely for either giving to a good cause or for giving more personally to someone who struggles financially or has given up altogether. Jesus did this, and we need to mirror that.

2. Think of a fun way for you and your friends to go and feed, minister, and love on the needy. Whether it is a shelter or a hospital, many people only think of doing these things and never actually do them.

3. And perhaps most importantly, QUIT JUDGING THE POOR. They are people just like you and me, you would be surprised at the friendships you can make by treating them like real human beings.

Blessings.

Scheduling Wisely

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” - James 4:13-17

Isn’t wealth a great thing? Getting to make money, spend money, and thus continues the circle of life. Or...not. Not to say that money is a bad thing, but the goal of money is a bad thing, unless the goal of money leads to a more ultimate goal, like going on a missions trip (which costs a lot of money). 

Let’s figure this out. Is there anything wrong with planning? No...and yes. The problem isn’t so much the planning as it is the dependence upon successful planning. Last time you got angry because your day didn’t go the way you had planned was due  to dependence upon successful planning. We humans think we know whats coming next and thus think we can always make successful plans, but we can’t. 

Go ahead, plan. Come up with ideas about how to be successful, make a business, invent something, start a church, start a bible study. These are all good things, but they are evil if you are depending upon successful planning, because a good percentage of the time, what you plan is going to fail. That doesn’t mean don’t plan, it means don’t depend upon the plans success. Expect that your plan may fail and be willing to accept that and move on. 

Honestly, what does it matter anyway? Your nobody special. Get over yourself and accept that you are simply waiting your turn in line to die. It’s what you do while your in line that matters. 

Get to work. 

Depend upon the Lord, not upon your plans. Here are some way to make this part of your life.

1. Don’t be too risky. While their are always exceptions to the rule, a good general guideline to live by is to not be too risky. Don’t quit your job till you have another one. Being too risk with your decisions can cause you to depend more upon the outcome of the situation than upon God’s providence. 

2. God is your Father. Remind yourself regularly that God is your father. He is in control, he has planned for what’s going on, and you aren’t in control. Get over yourself, and make God a bigger part of your life. The more you understand that God is in control and he makes everything ultimately lead to good will put into perspective the “bad” things that go wrong with your planning.

3. Be flexible. Don’t engrave your schedule in a stone, but write it on a calendar with a pencil (that has an eraser). Remember, life is an adventure, be willing to change your plans and be willing to have your plans changed. God is a good God and he will be with you. 

Don’t worry so much.

Blessings.