Unselfishness, Part 2

"And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." Luke 3:11, ESV

Note that in the story above, we are commanded to give to our neighbor out of our abundance, not in spite of our lack. Jesus did not tell us that, if we see someone lacking, we should provide for them despite how much it might hurt us. Having said that, it is also worth noting that, if we do come across someone who has a need that we can not meet, we need to do our best to use our resources and help them in fulfilling that need, not just ignore them and leave them to fend for themselves.

To keep the balance, it would be wise to talk about the concept of welfare. I understand that there are some individuals that genuinely need the welfare system because they can not provide for themselves. However, more and more people are taking advantage of the welfare system without any real need. They are living lazy lives and hurting those who truly need the system to survive. In part, that is the system's fault. The church is not to be a welfare system. The church is here to help those in genuine need, not the lazy.

"...If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living." 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, ESV

I like the term unselfishness better than selflessness. It seems to imply this balance between the needs of others and the needs of self.

I want to challenge you today to look at your heart and identify those areas that are out of balance when it comes to selfishness or selflessness. Ask Him to teach you the right balance as you continue to draw closer to him in your daily walk.

Additional Scriptures: James 4:2-4, Proverbs 30:8-9

Unselfishness, Part 1

Once you have established your goals and priorities, it is important to inspect your attitude towards each of these areas of life. This is where the goals start coming into place. Over the next few posts we will be looking at how our goals help us in shaping and directing our growth and lives.

Before we do that, however, it is important to look at another aspect that is critical in balancing our lives. In many different places in scriptures we are admonish to focus on others rather than on ourselves. Selflessness has been stressed as a principal trait of the Christian's character. However, out of balance selflessness can become very destructive and dangerous.

On one hand, we are called to provide for our neighbors in need. We are challenged by stories such as the poor widow that shared her last meal with the prophet Elijah (1 King 17:8-16), or the rich young ruler to whom Jesus told that, in order to enter into His Kingdom, he needed to give away all his possessions and follow him (Mark 10:21). On the other hand, we are told that we need to be good stewards of what we are given, including our bodies, finances, and health.

There is a balance between focusing on others and focusing on self, and it all pivots on the attitudes of our hearts. If we focus too much on others, we will neglect the duties to our families and ourselves. If we focus too much on ourselves, we will become selfish and self-centered. Neither extreme shows the balance that we have been studying about so far.

We will continue discussing the balance between the needs of others and our own tomorrow.

How to Balance Your Life, Part 5

Once my relationship with God and family are established and supported, the relationship with the rest of my family becomes the next priority. By extended family I mean those that do not live in the same household as myself. My mother, father, brother, aunt, and so forth fall in this category.
Ministry and Friends are both very close to each other; they are fighting for last place. Ministry took precedence over friends because, in a sense, friendships are a sort of ministry at times. Furthermore, ministry is also closely related to my relationship with God. Jesus gave us the great commission to go out and make disciples, not friends. So ministry has a slightly higher importance in my life than friendship.

Finally, we all need people to come along side of us, encourage us, build us up. Fiends are a joy and add great value to life. Similarly, they have great potential to help one grow and learn. Carefully selecting your friends is something that I could not stress enough. Good friends will push you up, bad ones will pull you down. I encourage you to look at the friends and people you spend your time with and ask yourself the this question, "Will these relationships help me in achieving my life-long goals?" If you have selected your life-long goals carefully, asking this question is not selfish, it is wise. If your answer is no, then the group of people that you call friends should change. That is not to say that you should completely eliminate those relationship altogether. In some cases that is definitely needed, in other cases these people just need to move from your group of friends to the group of people that you minister to.

Father, help us live lives that are in balance, that are pleasing to you and bring you glory. Guide us and teach us as we make you the centerpiece of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Let our relationship with you fill us to overflowing and, from that, spill into all the other areas of life. Let us be givers of live. Let us be an expression of your love to everyone we come in contact with, whether it is wives, sons or daughters, mothers or fathers, brothers, friends, or strangers.

How to Balance Your Life, Part 4

Earlier we discussed that the most important thing in life was our relationship with Jesus. The second most important thing in life, according to Luke 10:27, is our relationship with our neighbors. The priorities that were discussed on the previous section were selected in that order to support these relationships in a healthy and balanced way.

 "And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."" Luke 10:25-28, ESV

My relationship with my wife and children is the next more important item in the list. This set of people are the most important in my life and they take precedence over any other individuals. God specifically gave them to me so I may take care of them. After that, other things start to take priority because they support my relation to Christ as well as my family.

The third item on the list is health. Being healthy physically and emotionally is paramount to having a healthy relationship with God and Family. If the physical health of an individual suffers, the mind and spirit suffer as well. If the mental or emotional health of a person is deteriorated, the entire person is out of balance and his/hers relationship with Christ and family suffers as well.

Health was chosen to be in the third place of the list, because it supports the first and second priorities. Following health is finances and work. This priority, like health, is also in support of a previous one. Without a reasonable amount of financial stability, family life will suffer. As a husband and father, it is my responsibility to provide for my family. I believe this is a biblical idea. However, this is also a decision that we have made between my wife and I. We decided that it was more important for my wife to stay at home with the children than for her to have a full time job. She does have a home based business (she is a Mary Kay Beauty.... I mean, beauty consultant) as second priority to raising the kids.

How to balance your life, Part 3

Priorities

How do you keep your day-to-day life balanced? How do you make sure you are accomplishing those goals that are really valuable for your life?

If we are going to keep our lives in balance, we need to have a set of well established priorities to help us in our daily decision making process. Goals and priorities are not necessarily independent from one another.

My wife and I have studied and discussed what the priorities for our lives should be. They apply to our individual lives as well as our marriage and family. I encourage you to study and pray about the priorities in your life. Ask God to lead you and help you come up with a well defined list that you can review when trying to achieve balance in your life, whether it is in your finances, your schedule, your goals, or any other aspect of life. Having a carefully designed set of priorities will guide you and help you structure you life. Here is our list:

1. God
2 . A. Spouse
     B. Children
3. Health: Physical, mental and emotional
4. Finances
5. Extended Family
6. Ministry
7. Friends

Once your priorities have been established, you need to schedule your time in a way that allows all of those priorities to be accomplished. If you find yourself spending a lot of time on things that are not on your priority list, it is time to cut them out. If you find yourself spending more time on the bottom portion of your list rather than on the top, it is time to rearrange your schedule and start saying "not now" to some of those things.

When my wife and I are faced with a new project or activity that we would like to get involved with, we always ask several questions. They are, "Where does this fall in our priority list? How will our involvement in this project/activity affect the rest of our priorities? Will we have the appropriate amount of time left for the higher priority items?"

Having a well established set of priorities will help you keep a balance between the different activities that require time and energy from you. In other words, they will help you spend you life wisely.

How to balance your life, Part 2

Life Goals.

It is important to establish what God's goals for your life are. I wrestled with my life goals a few years back and finally came up with the four main goals that I believe God wanted for my life. Every now and then I re-visit them and try to fine-tune them. This is not the final draft, but it is the latest draft.

Life Goals
By His grace, this I will do.

1. To keep Him first at all times and continue developing the intimacy in my relationship with Him, learning to walk by faith, following His leadership even as Jesus did, onto Christ likeness.
2. To discover and fulfill His will for my life in obedience, Christ likeness, worship, love, humility, and unselfishness. Through His grace and power.
3. To become the husband, father, and man that God desires for me to be.
4. To spread the Gospel, make disciples, and share my faith in Jesus Christ with as many people as possible.

It is important to notice the subtitle of this list of life goals, "By His Grace, This I Will do." Accomplishing these goals is not something that I can do on my own. Attempting to achieve these on my own strength would violate the very first goal anyway. These goals can only be accomplished by His grace. No amount of striving will help me achieve any of these outside of His grace.
Having a well defined set of Goals is a very helpful tool when making decisions. They help us keep our focus on the important things and avoid getting distracted by this world.

These are very generic and non-specific goals. They are based on scripture, study, and prayer. Even though these goals could apply to any Christian, I encourage you to embark on the adventure of discovering God's goals for your life instead of adopting these as your own. I would like to recommend "The Purpose Driven Life" as good study to start with when establishing your life-long goals.

Goals aim at answering the question, "Where is my life going?"
What are your goals for you life? Where is your life going?

How To Balance Your Life, Part 1

What is Life?

If we are trying to keep our lives in balance, It is important to answer the question, "What is life?"
This question is a very, very, old question. I can not give you an answer to this; you need to find it on your own, but I can share my opinion with you.

Lets just start by saying that every human being is an immortal being. That is, we have a beginning, but we will never cease to exist. Unlike God, however, we are not eternal. He has no beginning and will have no end. After our bodies seize to function, some of us will go on to live with God forevermore, while some others will continue existing in the place set aside for those under the wrath of God. Since no one can know or understand what things will be on the other side of our physical death, I will limit this article to this side of eternity.

Life is a conglomeration of things that include feelings, relationships, ideas, events, and many, many other things. However, it all comes down to one thing that rules everything else: Time. As far as I understand it, the answer to the question becomes, "Life is my time here on earth and how I use it."
Managing my time wisely is, therefore, a very high priority for me. Wasting my time being angry or frustrated at things that I can not control is a terrible and irreversible loss. Having said that, there is seldom an event in my life that I can not learn from, and that makes those irreversible losses few and far between. Everything else becomes a learning opportunity or an opportunity to practice and strengthen any one of several skills or disciplines such as faith, patience, understanding, perseverance, foresight, time management, planning skill, etc.

We do not know at which point we will be called to move onto the afterlife. Our individual and personal future (on this earth) is a speculation and an uncertainty; it is not promised. Likewise, the past is now behind and we can do nothing about it but reflect and learn from it. Life, then, is reduced to this very exact instant in time, nothing more and nothing less. Everything else is up to God.
We can conclude that making the most out of the time we have here on earth is making the most out of our lives. Using every moment in the wisest way we know is of paramount importance. However, this will hopefully not be my last moment of life. Which produces a problem because I would much rather be at home playing than whatever I am doing right now. Balancing and prioritizing our time and effort is a central key to making the most of it. We have been talking about balance in our lives, this would be the first step towards accomplishing this balance.

As we will see in my next post, my most important life-goals is my relationship and intimacy with God. There is seldom, if ever, a time or event that cannot be use to continue building a deeper, stronger, and more intimate relationship with Him. Unfortunately, I do not take advantage of all those opportunities as I should, but that is part of the growing process.

What do you think life is?

Balance in your Theology and View of God

Several extremes come to mind regarding what is being preached about God nowadays. Some people preach a "genie in a bottle" kind of God. Some people preach a God of wrath, fire, and brimstone. Others preach about a God that is nothing but love and grace, a hippie God. Even though all these teachings are technically true, emphasizing one aspect of God over the other is a misrepresentation of God, scripture, and it will yield dire consequences in our everyday lives. It will yield a twisted view of God and life.

God cannot be manipulated into doing our will no matter how much we declare and decree it. On the same note, God will not love you more or less than He already does, regardless how well we manage our sin. Actually, even if we are extremely successful at managing our sins, but we do so in our own strength, it will yield self-righteousness, which is sin in itself, so you are no better off there either.

God is in balance within Himself. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of wrath, holiness, and justice. He is our healer and provider, but He is also the commander of armies of Heaven, the Almighty Judge. He loves and forgives, but He also disciplines those He loves and condemns those He chooses to.

God does not necessarily want you to be rich, nor does He necessarily want you to be poor. He does, however, want you to have what you need in order to accomplish His will. If wealth is required, He will give it to you. If wisdom, then that is what He will give you. He will provide for you according to His wisdom and plans, but He will provide for you.

God is infinitely loving, kind, patient, and forgiving. But He is also infinitely powerful and can destroy all of creation with a single word. He is a God that can be approached with confidence and love but also in reverence, fear, and humility. We need to keep all of His attributes in mind and in a balanced way, not just those that we like the best that make us feel warm and comfortable.

Balancing Life as a Christian

We tend to swing from one extreme to another and skip the middle ground altogether. You can see this plainly in everyday life. For example, you can see this in the drastic extremes that are preached in the different churches of America and in the way some people twist their minds to give the Bible the meaning that they want it to have. This produces twisted lives. Let me clarify that I am talking about Christians here.

Every Christian should strive to live a life in balance, whether it is in actions, attitudes, words, thoughts, theology, or any other aspect of life. The bible advices us of this in several places.

 ^"Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?" Ecclesiastes 7:16-17, ESV

"Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder[c] the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or turn your foot away from evil." Proverbs 4:24-27, ESV

How to achieve this balance becomes the main concern. This balance is what Matthew 7:13-14 is talking about when it mentions the straight and narrow path. On one side of the path we will find a cheap grace that excuses the Christian's every sin and gives free reign to the flesh and not the spirit. On the other side of the path we will find self-righteousness and make ourselves modern day Pharisees filled with pride, judgment, and self-centeredness, but deep down both sides are the same. Both sides are selfish and filled with sin and death.

The answer is found in the Proverb quoted above. "Let your eyes look directly forwards, and your gaze be straight before you." Jesus is the only one that can keep us on the straight and narrow path. He is the only one that can keep us from veering to the right or left.

Father, please keep our feet on the path that leads straight to you. Let us not veer to either side, but keep our hearts humble as we look to you for guidance. Amen.

How to Cope With The Storms of Life, Part 2

In the last post, we looked at the story of Jesus walking on water. At Peter's request, Jesus invited him to walk on the water towards Him, but peter lost his focus, started looking at the waves and the storm, and sunk. I think it is worth noting that, even though the story seemed to indicate that Jesus was some distance away when Peter started sinking, He was immediately at his side once He cried out for the savior to rescue him. To follow on the same theme as my last post, I think it is interesting the difference in the way Jesus handled this other storm:

"On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"" Mark4:35-41, ESV

It is interesting that some times Jesus will call us to walk to Him through the storm. But at other points, He will get in the boat with us and take care of it. Even though the two situations are drastically different, they both call for faith in Him. They both call for trust in Him.

We are all on the same boat, will you dare step out and walk on the water?

Will you dare trust Him with your storms regardless of whether He has called you to walk through them or let Him calm them for you?

How to Cope With The Storms of Life, Part 1

Driving to work on an average Thursday morning I happened to look out my window and see the driver next to me making an average right hand turn into a company that I assumed to be her employer. In the split second that took me to note this driver's movement, a thought occurred to me. This was not a new thought, but this time the Lord allowed it to make a more meaningful impact in my heart.

Maybe it was the look on her face, but my though was, "This lady has a life filled with problems, just like me and everyone else that walks this earth. We are all on the same boat." Immediately I thought of the following story.

"Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."" Matthew 14:22-33, ESV

This life is a stormy sea, and we are all sailing through it. Most of us live scared of the "waves" of life. Worrying and stressing over everything that is wrong or could potentially go wrong, getting "beaten by the waves." We live, like Peter, looking at the storm around us. This is what Jesus referred to as "the cares of the world" in Mark 4:19.

It is time that we stepped out of the boat, looked at Jesus, and started walking towards Him. If you can walk on water, drowning is not something that you are concerned about. If Jesus has called your name, then you should not be concerned about the waves of this life. Just get up, focus on Him, start walking forward, and trust He will take care of the storms around you.

How to Meditate, Part 3

The scriptures need to be the centerpiece of your meditation, second only to Jesus Himself. Since meditation is all about changing the attitudes of our hearts, we need a measuring rod to tell us what needs to be changed. This is the role of scripture, to teach us right from wrong, so we can prayerfully, humbly, and confidently approach the Lord and ask Him to minister to our hearts in these areas.

Finally, Christian growth is a process that starts when we come to know God and ends when we finally see Him face to face. Either by death or the rapture, that is the only way to achieve perfect maturity as a Christian.

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." 1 John 3:2-3, ESV

Mditation, then, is an ongoing process of growth that the Christian should embrace. It incorporates the mind as well as the heart and spirit, and it is all about growing closer to Christ. It is about submitting different aspects of our lives to Him, one by one, until our entire hearts have been completely submitted to Christ and He rules over every single area.

"Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass. And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday." Psalm 37:5-6, AMP

Like the rising of the sun described in Psalm 37:6, this process takes time, starting slowly, and shining brighter until it reaches its peak. So, I encourage you to be patient with yourself. Likewise, this process is very systematic. So, I encourage you to device a "meditation plan". Identify the major areas of your life that need to be submitted to the Lord, make a list of them, prioritize them, and then start applying the scriptures to them one by one. Once the list is complete, make another one, and start the process all over. You will never run out of things to put on the list, and if you do, just ask the Lord for His guidance. He will be able to fill your list.

Make room in your plan to go back and review those items that you have completed. This is called "maintenance." As we go through life, our environment, the people that we come into contact with, and the hurts and pains of life, will all have an effect on our minds and hearts. So, this, along with repentance, is a vital part of our growth. The continual washing of our feet as we walk through this dirty world (see John 13:10).
Keep in mind, however, that the goal is never to become sinless or perfect. The goal is simply to grow closer to Jesus and to build a closer and more intimate relationship with Him. To open your heart to His love and grace and train your mind and heart to trust in Him regardless of the outward circumstances of this world. After all, we are called to "be in the world, not of it".

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13, ESV

How to Meditate, Part 2

Once we have identified those areas God is leading us to work on, we need to understand the underlying needs from which this issues stem. Is it a desire to be loved that is causing this problem? Is it a lack of trust in God? Is it a need for attention? Is it selfishness? Is it a combination of these or other aspects? This is what I think the Lord was trying to tell us when he said:

"Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright." Proverbs 4:26, AMP

Once the underlying heart issue is identified, then we can start to meditate on those attributes of God that address that need. Even though all the different aspects of God should be studied and meditated upon, I have found that there are three major areas of the character of God that I tend to focus on. I do not know if these would help everyone in the same way they help me, but they certainly do seem to address most of my heart problems. They are:

The Goodness  of God: His love and kindness, good intentions, and plans towards us (including the way in which he disciplines us).
The Wisdom of God: His knowledge of what was, is, and is to come. His knowledge of the things that are hidden in our hearts, even from ourselves. His knowledge of our past and future and what He wants for us. His way of thinking and making decisions that include this knowledge that escapes our understanding.
The Power of God: His ability to perform and bring to pass that which he has purposed. His control over ever situation, at every time, everywhere, in every way. His omnipresence.

These three can then be applied to each area of your life to produce change in our hearts. This list is by no means an exhaustive list of God's character. This could not be done in such a short essay. For a better study on God's character, let me suggest a book called "The Attributes of God."My small group and I are going through it at the moment and it has proven to be a very beneficial study.

If you would like to start meditating but need guidance, let me suggest that you start by looking at the sermon of the Mount (Matthew 5-7). If you read these few chapters carefully, you will notice that they do not speak specifically about our behavior but of the attitudes of the heart. Inspect your actions and your heart and identify one or two of the areas mentioned in this sermon that the Lord would have you improve upon. This should not be hard to do. You probably already know what they are because the Lord has been convicting you about them. Then dig a little deeper and try to understand what your heart is looking for. Once you understand that, just meditate on the attributes of God that will minister to that need.

Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8, Isaiah 26:3, Proverbs 4:23-26, Romans 12:1-2, Proverbs 17:22, Deuteronomy 4:9, Deuteronomy 6:6-9

-G

How To Meditate, Part 1

To some, meditation is something done sitting cross legged at the top of a mountain by highly spiritual people. But this is not exactly the Biblical idea of meditation. So what do the scriptures say about this?

"And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then]  You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes.  And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9, AMP

From the Deuteronomy scripture above, we can see that meditation should be a way of life. Something that we do throughout our lives. A similar concept can be found in Philippians 4:8, where we are told to keep thinking about everything that is excellent and praiseworthy. and at the beginning of Romans 12, where we are told to sacrifice the entirety of our being as "spiritual worship" to God,  and then to be transformed by renewing our minds.

First and foremost Christian Meditation should always be done in communion with God. It is Him who produces change in our hearts. Knowing Him and building intimacy with Him is what will produce those results that our hearts yearn for so desperately. So the change of our heart's attitudes can not exclude God. It is something we do with Him and with His leadership. He knows our hearts better than we do. So meditation always start with asking God to reveal the sinfulness within us and show us those areas that He wants to change in us. The scriptures say:

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom)." 2 Corinthians 3:17, AMP

When we meditate we are opening our hearts and lives to the spirit of God. When our heart, which are in bondage to sin come into contact with the spirit of God, they are set free. From His Spirit, love, peace, joy, and every good thing flows into our hearts. To the point where this overflows into every aspect of our lives and becomes a blessing for everyone we come into contact with.

"The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45, AMP

-G

How To Change Your Heart

I admonish you to use wisdom with what I am about to say. If you have not done so, please read my article on Religion vs. Relationship and keep that in mind as you read through this section.

Lets just start by saying that nothing can be done with absolute perfection. Attempting to have a perfect heart is setting yourself up for failure, so I would suggest that if you decide to apply what we will be talking about today, that you do so with an attitude of grace and patience towards yourself. On the same note, regardless of how much you change, it will never be enough to attain salvation or any degree of righteousness on your own strength.

Having said that, even though we might not reach a state of perfection, that does not mean that we should not work towards improving our relationship with God. Though the effects from meditation and changing your heart will produce a mindset and perception that will make your life much more pleasant and enjoyable, I encourage you to not let that be the sole motivation behind your meditation. You should approach this as an act of worship towards God (see my article on What is Worship). The results that will follow will be just that, the results that come from a closer relationship with Him.

Christian meditation has one objective, only one, an no more than one. The objective is to become closer to God, growing in intimacy with Him, and learn to love and trust Him more. Everything else flows out of that. Sinlessness can not be produced from meditation. Righteousness can not be produced from meditation, that can only be obtained by faith alone. Likewise, peace can not be directly produced from meditation, however, this will be a byproduct of meditating on the right things. Christian meditation will help you build your intimacy with God as you change your perceptions of God, yourself, and the world. That is where peace and joy come from, as a byproduct of meditation, but not as a direct result of it. Some will argue that we can not do anything to build our intimacy with God, but the bible is clear that some level of initiative is expected from us in this area.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:7-8, ESV

With emphasis on "draw near to God, and he will draw near to you", one can conclude that we should at least, attempt to draw near to Him. Personally, I believe that if there really are any result that can be achieved, they are because he caused them to happen, not me. But I also believe that my initiative is a way of expressing to Him my desire for a closer relationship, and that is what He is really looking for to begin with.

There are a lot of concepts about meditation out there. Most of those concepts have some sort of spiritual aspect to them, rightly so. Meditation should involve all aspects of the person Spirit, Soul, and Body. But, what is Christian Meditation? If you are a regenerated (born again) Christian, your spirit has been re-made in the image of God, and the spirit of God is actually living in you, but your mind and your flesh have not been re-made. Meditation is training you mind and heart to work in a way that is pleasing to God in order to bring it into agreement with the Holy Spirit living within you. This is what I believe the Lord is trying to tell us in Philippians 4:8.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8, ESV

Whether you realize it or not, you meditate on a very regular basis. Worrying is one form of meditation. I should know, I do a lot of that. Worrying (which is different than concern, in my mind) is meditating on the wrong things. When you worry, your mind as well as your heart are involved. Meditation involves both the mind and heart. It involves your thoughts as well as your will, your emotions, and your attitudes. The result is a changed heart, which leads to changed behavior.
Today, I want to challenge you to start meditating on those aspects of your life that the Lord has convicted you about.

Lord, I ask that you reveal to us our sins, our idols, and that you help us submit those to you. Guide us as we seek to do your will and worship you, change our hearts so they may be pleasing to you. Make us men and women (respectively), after you own heart! Amen.

How to Keep the First Thing First

There are so many things fighting for our attention, some are very worthy, such as family and your spouse, children, work, ministry, friends. Some are not as worthy of our attention, but we give it to them anyways. Such as entertainment, material stuff, and hobbies. Notice that non of these things are sinful or bad in and of themselves, and some people would argue that they are needful, with which I would agree to some degree. But they are not Jesus. So how do we keep Jesus First in our lives?
There are no problems with any of these things. As a matter of fact, everyone should have all of the things mentioned earlier, to some degree or another. Entertainment, friends, hobbies, material things, are all good things. All of them were created by God. And He does want us to have and enjoy them. It is when they take and exaggerated place of importance in our hearts and lives that they become bad things. They become idols!!!

The key to keeping Jesus first is not necessarily in what we do, but in how we do it. It is a matter of heart attitude. I can keep Jesus first when I am spending some quality time with my friends, or doing our monthly budget with my wife (in which case I not only need to keep Him first, but I need to hold on to Him, by faith, with all my strength), or while I am at work, or church, or lunch, or at any other point in life.

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:6, ESV

Note that this passage says "in all your ways", not some, not most, but all of them. Whether you are at work, church, with friends, family, being serious, or entertaining, all of them. I fully believe that it is possible to keep Him first in any area of life, as long as it is not sin, of course.

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7, ESV

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working at becoming free from a perpetual sense of fear, anxiety, and insecurity that is mostly related to finances. As part of this struggle, I often find myself stressing and worrying at an unconscious level. I can be sitting at my computer, doing the best job that I know to do, with the intentions of achieving the best results I can, and I am still anxious and worried. It seems that I am just anxious as a matter of Habit. This is a heart issue. When God looks at me, he can see that I am working hard, and that I am focus, everyone can see that. That is the "appearance" that verse is speaking of. However, God can see much more than that. He can see my heart, and He can see that I am not working for Him or for His Glory. He can see that I am working for myself, for money, for stuff, for food and shelter, for all those things that I should be trusting Him with. This heart issue that I struggle with is also know as idolatry. I am literally worshipping money, and worshipping myself. Worshipping money because I am trusting in money and what money can buy instead of trusting that God is my provider. Worshipping myself (also known as pride), because I am trusting in my own skills and ability to provide for myself. Needless to say, as often as I find myself in this condition, I repent and ask God for His help in overcoming this sin.

This attitude is not keeping God first, this is keeping myself first. If I were keeping Him first, I would be working to bring Glory to God. My work would be an expression of Love for God, instead of an attempt at providing for myself. When I do something for my wife, with the purpose of expressing love towards her, there are feelings directed towards her that accompany my actions. When I do something for God, with the intention of expressing my love for him, there should also be feelings and attitudes directed towards Him to accompany those actions.

That is how we keep God first. By keeping the right attitudes in our heart while we go through life doing whatever it is we are doing. Which produces, in my mind, another question: If, as a Christian, I need to keep Jesus First. And keeping Jesus First is a matter of the attitude in my heart then, How do I change the attitudes in my heart? How do I approach life with a heart that seeks to continually express love towards God?

We will discuss the answer to that question on the next post. In the mean time, think about and post your answer to these questions:
What are the benefits from keeping Jesus first in your everyday life?
What is keeping you from doing it?

Related articles: What is worship?, All about Grace Part 1 and Part 2
-g