'...To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer.' Philemon 1:1 NKJV
Paul called Philemon 'our beloved friend and fellow labourer'. Obviously Paul had found the right person for the job. How do you do that? Perhaps by enjoying their uniqueness. Fred Smith says, 'One young woman worked for me matching colors of ink. She could get tears in her eyes over certain shades of blue. Isn't this a beautiful match? she'd ask. I could never figure out what went on in her head to make matching blue such a remarkable occurrence. But all I needed to do to keep her motivated was to share her excitement and appreciate her work.' We can find the right person by knowing their capabilities. If a musician has limited talent, it's a mistake and a disservice to talk to them about the joys of being a Mozart. In motivation, desire must be matched with ability. Then: by knowing how much responsibility they can handle. Some people can take on full-sized responsibility but not sole responsibility. Something in their psyche says, 'I don't want the whole load. I want somebody to lean on, to report to.' We can find the right person by giving them a reputation to uphold. One leader writes, 'One of my bosses had a way of saying nice things about his workers that got back to them...and we couldn't keep from trying to do more things he could tell. People will work hard to uphold a good reputation.' Finally, by knowing what they thirst for. People have different thirsts. One of the secrets of identifying a person's thirst is seeing what motivated them in the past. People rarely outlive their basic thirst. When we satisfy that, we motivate them.
'When he came to his senses...' Luke 15:17 NIV
Do you have a prodigal heart? The parable of the prodigal son teaches us that by listening to God we can avoid tragedy; that by living under His rule we're saved from our misguided tendencies. Jesus said, 'There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said...Father, give me my share... Not long after...[he]...set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine...and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out...to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.' (Luke 15:11-16 NIV) When God says no, heed Him. When He pulls back on the reins, thank Him. It's better to be alone and walk with God than be surrounded by those who'll hurt you. Prodigal, things won't improve until you start doing things God's way! Are you willing to repent and come back home? In three back-to-back parables, in Luke 15, Jesus pointed out that the shepherd went looking for his lost sheep, the woman went looking for her lost silver, but nobody went looking for the lost son. That's because he knew the way back. And it happened when 'he came to his senses'. The rebel who left home saying, 'Give me,' humbled himself and came back saying, 'Forgive me.' When he did, his father embraced him and said, 'This son of mine was...lost and is found...' (Luke 15:24 NIV) Today your Heavenly Father is waiting to welcome you home. He loves you...
'...like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.' James 1:6 CEV
Here are two more life-stabilizers. First, submission. Our ego always wants to 'do it our way', for our purposes and our pleasure. The result is a hardening of the attitudes-a dangerous resistance to God. So His Word says, '...warn each other every day...that none ...will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.' (Hebrews 3:13 NLT) Like a pond gradually freezing in winter, our self-will slowly rigidifies, destroying our spiritual sensitivity. The Spirit's gentle influence no longer moves us; we're left feeling content and justified doing our own thing, to our own demise. It's not wrong to have our own will, and God won't 'cure' or 'deliver' us from it. But He intends us to line our will up with His. A good racehorse must have a will in order to win, but its will must be submitted to the rider's directions or winning will be impossible. 'The sacrifices of God are a broken [submitted] spirit [will]: a broken...heart...God...will not despise.' (Psalm 51:17 NKJV) Secondly, self-sacrifice. The world's philosophy is 'Get and keep all you can!' Few things sabotage our peace and stability like this philosophy. 'Take care of yourself' isn't a Kingdom principle. 'If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for Me, you will find true life.' (Matthew 16:25 NLT) Psychologists say that grasping, and holding on to things and people only makes us anxious, possessive, controlling and difficult to live with! That's why Jesus said, 'Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses [invests] his life will preserve it.' (Luke 17:33 NIV) You've tried everything else-now try giving yourself fully to God!
'...like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm.' James 1:6 CEV
Are you winning or losing most of your spiritual battles? Are you down more than up? Do you feel frustrated? Are you going in circles? Is your experience full of stops and starts, a constant guilt-failure cycle? That's not God's plan for you. You can live a stable, consistent life! But it will require life stabilizers such as decisiveness. Israel wanted to have it both ways: God's blessing, yet the right to disregard His Word; freedom to live like heathen nations, yet be His special people. But Joshua declared it unacceptable. '...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...' (Joshua 24:15 NIV) The church at Laodicea also wanted it both ways, but God pressed them: '...You are...neither cold nor hot...make up your minds...' (Revelation 3:16,19 CEV) God requires a direction chosen, a goal set, and a mind made up. Wavering classifies you as double-minded and Scripture says That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.' (James 1:7 NIV) To live a stable life, you need faith. You are called a 'believer' because faith must characterize not just some, but every area of your life. 'Without faith it is impossible...' (Impossible! Not unlikely, improbable or difficult) 'to please God...' (Hebrews 11:6 NIV) Faith is not what you study on Sunday morning, it's what you do 24/7! The Bible says, 'My righteous [ones] will live by faith.' (Hebrews 10:38 NIV) You say, 'Where do I get faith?' By meditating on, and living in God's Word (Romans 10:17). Who possesses faith? The spiritually exceptional? No, '...God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.' (Romans 12:3 NKJV) That includes you! Faith, not feelings or circumstances, is what makes your life stable!
'...I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me.' Acts 27:25 NIV
On his way to Rome, Paul-and 275 others-were shipwrecked. We can learn three important lessons from their story that will give a look at radical faith. First, that we must listen to God. If we don't, we'll experience heartache and loss: '...Paul warned them, Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss... But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and...the majority decided that we should sail on...' (Acts 27:9-12 NIV) Notice, being in the majority doesn't make somebody right. Who are we listening to? Do they know God? Are they walking by faith or by human reasoning? Jesus said, '...he who receives whomever I send receives Me.' (John 13:20 NKJV) Secondly, the purposes of God will always overcome the plans of men and women. God can actually make mistakes work for our good. Through this shipwreck Paul landed on Malta and introduced the Gospel to its people. Instead of beating ourselves up over mistakes or arguing about who's right and who's wrong, try to see the hand of God in it. Finally, whatever we've lost, God can restore it. '[The people of Malta] honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.' (Acts 28:10 NIV) Don't limit God. He will use people to bless us-people we haven't even met yet. Jesus said, 'Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.' (Luke 6:38 NAS) Let's be encouraged; God will bring us through!
Before God gives you more, He observes you with what you already have. Furthermore, when He speaks a word over your life it's like a seed; it needs time to take root and sprout. If God has planned it for you, don't be impatient; '...wait for it; because it will surely come...' (Habakkuk 2:3 KJV) Patience develops in us the ability to stand up to the pressures that accompany blessing. Look back; aren't some of the things you've been through the very things that have equipped you to handle what you have now? Had God given them to you sooner you couldn't have handled them, and He loves you too much to let that happen. Think: if you're having difficulty handling criticism from a few people, how would you cope if God made you pastor or company president? Are you ready to pay the price? And, more importantly, are you able to pay it? The more God gives you, the more He holds you responsible for. Jesus said, 'No man builds without counting the cost.' Sometimes we want things because others have them. You say you want a husband and children, for example-but are you ready to start living sacrificially? You say you need a wife, but are you ready to give yourself for her? (Ephesians 5:25) Whatever you're going through today, there's great peace in knowing that nothing the enemy does can pre-empt God's plan. So, 'Don't be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep travelling steadily along His pathway and in due season He will honor you with every blessing.' (Psalm 37:34 TLB) Rejoice; God is getting you ready.
'Love is patient and kind...' 1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT
The space shuttle Discovery was once grounded-not by technical difficulties or lack of funding, but by woodpeckers! The birds found the insulating foam on the shuttle's external fuel tank irresistible. The foam is critical to the shuttle's performance. Without it, ice forms on the tank when it's filled with super-cold fuel; ice that can break free during lift-off and damage it. There's a lesson here. Often, our marriages are damaged not by big things such as infidelity, abuse or abandonment, but little things such as criticism, lack of respect, and taking each other for granted. Pecking away at your relationship keeps it from reaching the heights of happiness God has planned for you. Someone wisely observed, 'Before you criticize your spouse's taste, remember, they chose you.' You say, 'But I'm just stating the facts.' Oswald Chambers said, 'God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize one another, but that we may intercede [pray] for one another.' Nagging doesn't work; it only tears down your spouse's self-worth and security. People change only when they feel validated and understood. The Bible says, 'Love is patient and kind.' Instead of 'pecking', recall the qualities that attracted you to your spouse, build on them, and bring out the best in them. If you don't, who will? Paul writes, '...Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.' (Philippians 4:8 NLT) If you plan to stay married and be happy, these are time-tested principles.
'God has appointed...teachers...' 1 Corinthians 12:28 NKJV
I enjoyed this I hope you do to....Howard Hendricks points out that good teaching involves giving people responsibility with accountability: 'Our problem in the churches is that we don't do that. The United States government takes multi-million-dollar planes and puts them in the hands of kids nineteen years old; and when those same kids come to church we don't even let them take up the offering... Ever been in a courtroom where a will is being read? The reader is mumbling his way over the legal jargon, and everyone else in the room is half asleep-everyone, that is, except the person named in the will as the beneficiary... When your teaching has the learner's name written all over it-when he sees that, in effect, his name occurs throughout the book-it will make a big difference in his level of motivation... I am convinced that everyone-no exception-can be motivated to learn. But not at the same time, and by the same person, and not in the same way. The timing is crucial. Teaching is the assembling of a time bomb...marked for explosion at a later date and at a different location. That is why you need to walk by faith to be a good teacher, and you need a lot of patience. And you aren't God's answer to every individual. That is what the body of Christ is all about... I'm asked over and over again, How do I get a person motivated? I answer, When you sock someone with twenty thousand volts of electricity, they don't turn to you and ask, 'Did you say something?' No, they move!' The question is, 'Teacher, are you motivated?'
'God has appointed...teachers...' 1 Corinthians 12:28 NKJV
I enjoyed this I hope you do to....Howard Hendricks points out that good teaching involves giving people responsibility with accountability: 'Our problem in the churches is that we don't do that. The United States government takes multi-million-dollar planes and puts them in the hands of kids nineteen years old; and when those same kids come to church we don't even let them take up the offering... Ever been in a courtroom where a will is being read? The reader is mumbling his way over the legal jargon, and everyone else in the room is half asleep-everyone, that is, except the person named in the will as the beneficiary... When your teaching has the learner's name written all over it-when he sees that, in effect, his name occurs throughout the book-it will make a big difference in his level of motivation... I am convinced that everyone-no exception-can be motivated to learn. But not at the same time, and by the same person, and not in the same way. The timing is crucial. Teaching is the assembling of a time bomb...marked for explosion at a later date and at a different location. That is why you need to walk by faith to be a good teacher, and you need a lot of patience. And you aren't God's answer to every individual. That is what the body of Christ is all about... I'm asked over and over again, How do I get a person motivated? I answer, When you sock someone with twenty thousand volts of electricity, they don't turn to you and ask, 'Did you say something?' No, they move!' The question is, 'Teacher, are you motivated?'
'...his father called him Benjamin.' Genesis 35:18 KJV
When people label you, those labels can cause you to shrink instead of to stretch you to your full potential. But the God who gave Jacob a new identity can give you one too. Are you struggling with the old names people called you and the old images you have of yourself? Nothing will change in your life until it first changes in your mind. Jacob's wife Rachel died in the desert in childbirth. Just before she died she named her son Ben-Oni, which means 'son of my sorrow'. When the midwife handed him to his father Jacob, he said that he should not be called Ben-Oni, the son of my sorrow, but Benjamin, the son of the right hand (that is, son of power). Guess which name prevailed? Benjamin! Hear this: you are who God says you are, not who others say you are! If God didn't give you the name, it's not yours. Only believe what God says about you. Nobody understood better than Jacob the power of a name change. It was in God's presence that Jacob the trickster was re-named Israel, '...a prince...with God...' (Genesis 32:28 KJV) Christ breaks the power of every negative thing that attaches itself to you. 'You're a saint, not a sinner; not a loser but a winner.' When people try to label you, tell them you don't answer to that name any more. Tell them the person they're talking about died, was buried, and rose brand new in Christ. God sees you as a new creation, so start thinking, talking and acting like one!
'...this one thing I do...' Philippians 3:13 KJV
Ask yourself two questions. First, do I want God's best? It's not easy to rise up early while others sleep, and prepare for the challenge. Like Jesus in Gethsemane, you'll discover it's hard to find people who will stand with you while you're in preparation. But there can be no celebration without preparation. Not everybody can handle success. Some would rather have tranquility; they don't like criticism and they can't take the pressure. But if you want God's best you can have it. If you've the passion, the price won't stop you! You'll be drawn and driven toward the goal. Secondly, ask yourself: how strong is my desire? If you don't have the passion for it, you'll never overcome the obstacles. Real power comes from desire kindled in the furnace of unfilled longing. Long-distance runners take steady strides and focus on endurance, not just speed. They run each lap, stretch to their limits and give themselves to one thing-winning. Perspiration pours out of them. The taste of exhaustion is in their mouths. As they near the finishing line a final burst of energy kicks in. It's the last lap. No excuses; it's now or never! At least one time before they lay you in your casket, you owe it to God and yourself to experience that last-lap feeling of giving it all you've got. Victory doesn't come cheap. Paul writes, '...resist the enemy... Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness... be fully prepared... Pray at all times.' (Ephesians 6:13-18 NLT)
History records dark chapters when godless tyrants ruled and religious dictators made it a crime to read the Bible or worship God according to the dictates of your conscience. In 1945, Martin Niemoeller said, 'When the Nazis came for the communists, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. When they came for the Jews, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. When they came for the trade unionists, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. When they came for the Catholics, I didn't speak up because I was Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for anybody.' On the top of the Capitol Dome in Washington DC is a statue of Lady Freedom. Her face is framed in a crest of stars and she's holding a shield of stars and stripes in her hand. She was shipped from Rome, and during a fierce storm the captain ordered some cargo thrown overboard. The sailors wanted to ditch Lady Freedom, but the captain is said to have refused, shouting above the wind, 'Never! We'll founder before we throw freedom away!' Benjamin Franklin said that those who give up liberty for safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety! Speaking to the believers in Galatia, Paul addresses the legalists who wanted to force them to go back and live under the impossible standards of the old law. He writes, '...Christ made us free. So stand strong. Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law.' (Galatians 5:1 NCV) Today you need to stop, look up and say, 'Thank God for my freedom!'
