Being Effective And Productive In The Kingdom

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Peter 1:5-8 (emphasis mine)

Two phrases literally leaped right off the page as I read this scripture. “if you possess these qualities… they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive…” There are certain things that we must have  in our spiritual walks in order to remain effective and productive in the kingdom. The opposite can be said that if we do not possess these qualities then we inevitably will be ineffective and unproductive in the kingdom. This is exactly the very card satan is trying to play on Christians. He wants to deem us ineffective and unproductive. Keeping the devil in a place of fear is our playing card. When we are aware and continuously working on the qualities needed to be effective and productive in the kingdom of God we keep satan in a constant state of fear.

Let’s take a look at the characteristics that have been listed in this verse: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love. That is a pretty powerful list. I don’t know about you, but I know there are a few on that list I need some help to possess in increasing measure for sure! I want to take some time to look these characteristics, learn what they are and what scripture teaches about each one.

Faith

Scripture tells us that “...if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move...”  Matthew 17:20 We do not need an abundance of faith in order to thrive in the kingdom of God. We just need the tiniest amount of unwavering faith in the Lord to see the impossible take place. The beautiful thing about faith is that it can start out as small as a mustard seed and as we see mountains move in our lives and the lives of those around us we can watch it grow. Our faith grows with each answer to pray, with each God sized portion of provision, with every occasion of supernatural protection and in  each and every heartfelt moment of peace in the midst of the cayos. Scripture tells us that when we seek Him we will find Him. (Matthew 7:7) Our faith grows when we look for God in every situation.

Goodness

Goodness is moral excellence and virtue. This is a quality we have seen drastic declines in our culture over the last several decades. Our culture likes to tell us that humans are inherently good. However, scripture is clear that we were born with a sin nature and are sinners from birth.

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5 The sin nature we are born with wages furiously against any type of goodness unless we are willing to purposely take a stand and fight back. Our flesh will always win the war that we are not willing to fight.   

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 (ESV) I’d like to reword this verse to say…”Surly moral excellence and virtue will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (My rendition of Psalm 23:6) The old saying that states “What goes around comes around” applies quite literally in this verse. When we operate with moral excellence and virtue, then they will surely follow us. People are drawn to those with a large moral base and function with virtue. I have never met a person who displayed excellent moral character that I haven’t enjoyed being around. These people become magnets for the kingdom. It’s no wonder God wants the characteristic of goodness to grow in increasing measure in our lives.

Knowledge

Knowledge is acquiring facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation (adapted from dictionary.com). God intends for us to grow in our knowledge of Him, His word, His truths, and His principles as we mature in our faith. We are not called to stay spiritual babies forever. “The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.” Proverbs 18:15. We are called to actively search and seek out knowledge, understanding, truth, God’s principles and investigate the scriptures. If we are not diligently doing this we can not possibly be growing in knowledge in increasing measure. This takes time and effort on our part. We must be willing to put forth the effort needed to acquire knowledge. I sometimes wish that by some form of osmosis it would just come to me. But it doesn't. That would be a surefire way to create a lazy Christian. And if I know anything about our Heavenly Father, He is not in the business of creating lazy Christians.

Self-control

Self control is our ability to restrain our actions, feelings and words when we find ourselves under pressure, stress, or criticism. This is an area that needs so much of God’s grace in my personal walk. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve. People know when I am annoyed, frustrated or bothered. I wish I had a shut off switch in this department because my lack of restraint has gotten me in more trouble than I care to admit. Proverbs 14:17 tells us that “a quick tempered person does foolish things…” Yep, that’s me alright, a short fuse that turns into foolishness. How about you? Are you one who is quick to anger and frustration, or are you one who exhibits self control in difficult situations? Lord, help us to have self control in increasing measure!    

Perseverance

The meaning of perseverance is having a steady persistence in a course of action, or a purpose, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement (dictionary.com) Some translations of scripture also use long suffering. We are going to be faced with all kinds of obstacles in our walk with Christ. Will we have the stubbornness that it takes to stick it out no matter what the obstacles? Are we truly willing to suffer long and hard for the sake of the kingdom or will we crumble under the pressure? I believe we must exhibit a certain degree of obstinence in the kingdom. We must not be willing to compromise our faith for shortcuts, narrow roads or smoother paths. I truly believe that in order to have perseverance we must be bullheaded for Godly principles. Afterall, satan is certainly persistent in his fight for our souls. Why shouldn’t we be just as insistent upon righteousness prevailing in our lives and the lives of our family? ”Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12 We will receive a crown of life when we persevere under trials! What sobering thought. We are storing up treasures in heaven when we are stubborn for kingdom principles. Lord, give us a tenacity for long suffering.

Godliness

“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8) Becoming more Christ like is the very essence of being a Christian. Having godliness is valuable to everything we do in this life. We must desire to become increasingly Christ like each and every day.

Kindness

I have shared in a previous post about kindness. When people operate with kindness, it flows from their very character in such a way that they will elevate the good in others. They consciously look towards the interests of those around them. (Philippians 2:3-4) It is their desire to see others grow and flourish. The very nature of our Heavenly Father is kindness. He desires for us to grow in kindness with increasing measure each and every day.

Love

I recently completed an entire series on love. Please feel free to go and view that series if you need a refresher on God’s love. Love encomposes all of these characteristics that we just listed out. If we truly love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Luke 10:27), then we will possess faith, goodness, a thirst for knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness and kindness. That does not mean that we possess each of them with increasing measure. That takes work on our part to make that happen. I truly believe that if we put the majority of our efforts into loving God, and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31), then the rest will fall into place. That is why scripture tells us that “...the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 3:13.

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us the keys to being effective and productive in your kingdom. Help us to grow with increasing measure each and every day in faith, goodness, a thirst for knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and most importantly love. Thank you for not giving us a spirit of fear, but for allowing us to use fear as a weapon against the enemy. As we increase in these qualities may it build fear in satan. We pray that no weapon that he tries to bring against us is going to prosper because we are keeping busy working the word in our lives with increasing measure. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ.

The Gentle Nudging Of Christ

How many of you know that when the Lord is calling you to do something, even when it seems like such a little thing, you need to do it? I recently had a situation arise that challenged me with the verse in James 5:16. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” God had laid on my heart a specific person to go and seek forgiveness from for the attitude of my heart and I had put it off for several days. I really didn’t want to seek forgiveness, mainly because in my mind the very person God had asked me to seek forgiveness from, I felt was just as guilty as I was. So in my pride, I pushed it aside, thinking that maybe this person would realize what they were doing and be the more humble person in the situation. That never happened. God would not allow me to walk away from the responsibility He had placed in my lap. As the days went by the nudges kept coming. And finally, Sunday morning rolled around. The very first verse that was mentioned that morning was James 5:16. I always find it interesting how God uses others to seal the deal once and for all about my obedience. In that moment, I knew I could not fight the gentle hand of the Lord any longer. I knew if I continued in my disobedience the consequences would not be favorable for myself or the other person involved.

As humbly and gently as I knew how, I approached this person and asked for forgiveness. I shared with them that my heart had not been right towards them and that that I had not been treating them with kindness. My heart was laid bare and broken before them. Let me just say,  when God leads you to do something you will be amazed by the outcome! Psalms 51:17 tells us that. God will not despise a broken and contrite heart. He certainly does not! He loves and adores a humble, broken and apologetic heart. That is the very key to the kingdom. It was Christ’s broken and contrite heart that allowed Him to lay down His very life so we could live. Without Christ’s humble spirit we could never experience forgiveness of our sins nor could we experience eternity with our Heavenly Father. Such a beautiful example God has given us through His Son for us to follow. And when we are obedient to do so, the doors of heaven will open up.

The healing that took place in my heart from that experience was nothing short of a miracle. I had been experiencing so much strife and turmoil prior to that conversation. As I walked away from this conversation, my heart was filled with joy, and peace all because I finally chose to obey. When I opened my heart, the Lord poured in the oil of healing. That oil would not have come through any other avenue. This person not only received my broken heart well, but shared with me their heart as well. I had not wanted to open my heart to this person because of their unconfessed sin. God used the confession of my sin as a chance for this person to confess their own. This brought such a revelation to my spirit! How often do we get so caught up in pointing out the sins of others that we refuse to take care of the sins in our own lives?

Matthew 7:3-5 talks about this very concept. We want to pick out the sins of others when we have glaring sins of our very own that are in need of our attention. Jesus called those people a bunch of hypocrites. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want Christ labeling me as a hypocrite. My heart keeps me plenty busy with the entanglement of sins I find myself involved with. I certainly have no business getting even more entangled by the sins of others.

Call to action

Do you find yourself quick to pick out the sins in others? Is God calling you to seek forgiveness from someone? Are you hearing a still small voice that is nudging you to do something and you’re resisting? If you can honestly answer “yes” to any of these questions or if you are feeling a stirring in your spirit, then run to our Heavenly Father. Seek clarity if needed, but most importantly, be obedient to His nudgings. Don’t put off His quiet gentle voice any longer. Simply obey. You will never regret obeying His voice. Our situations may not always turn out the way we hoped, but even in those instances, God’s ways are better than our ways.

Other posts aligning with this subject: What If?

Gracious Father, you know the inner workings of our hearts. You know what is best for us even when we do not know what is best for ourselves. I pray that as you call to us, we will be quick to listen and even more quick to obey. Help us not to push aside your gentle nudges, but to move forth with boldness and confidence in knowing that you have spoken to our hearts. Help us to remember that our obedience excites your heart. You get energized and captivated by our obedience. Lord, it is our desire to capture your heart and we know that we can do that by walking in obedience to that still small voice and those gentle nudges. We ask all these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ.

Conflicts Of Christmas

In light of the Christmas season, my mind has been mulling over the conflicts that we as Christians face in this age with the whole concept of Santa Clause. Yes, I am going there. What triggered this thought process was a post on Facebook by a Christian seeking advice about whether or not to do the whole Santa Clause thing. We are constantly bombarded with all kinds of things that are contrary to Christ. “But Santa is not against Christ. You can do Santa and Jesus both at Christmas.” Says the well-meaning, unsold-out Sunday Christian. Please excuse the sarcasm here as I promise to justify myself.

Breaking down Christmas

Santa, while seemingly innocent enough, does not convey the true meaning of Christmas. As Christians, we know that the true meaning of Christmas is Christ and if you take that away all you have is “mas.” If you look up that word “mas” you will find its meaning to be “a carnival.” (dictionary.com) So without Christ, we have a meaningless, empty celebration. When you add Christ to it (Christmas) you have a celebration of Christ. Christmas is the celebration of Christ and nothing else.

Foreigners

Looking at this concept of Santa from a parenting perspective brings yet another angle to this conflict. I have heard parents say that if they didn’t do the Santa thing, their kids would be missing out. As a family, we chose not to do Santa with our kids. This led me to ask them if they felt as if they were missing out, felt left out or jipped in any way at Christmas because of not doing the Santa thing and their response without hesitation was “No way!” My concern with this excuse really comes from two schools of thought. The first is that we are called to be in this world and not of it (John 17:16). In other words, we are called to live here, but not act like those around us. We are foreigners in this world and therefore, we should not act like we are natives. 1 Peter 2:11 says, “Dear friends, I warn you as temporary residents and foreigners to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.” (NLT). I know you're thinking that Santa does not wage war against our souls. He gives gifts at Christmas just like the ultimate gift was Jesus. That type of thinking should send off alarms because it is taking a very sacred biblical concept and weaving fictitious nonsense into it so that we feel justified. This is exactly the type of thing satan did in the garden with Eve. He wove enough truth into his lie to make it palatable. Therefore, Eve swallowed it, literally and figuratively speaking. That was the first and deadliest method of manipulation satan has used on the human race and obviously is still using it today.

Lying

The second school of thought is, that as Christians we are called to obey the entire word of God. We should not be picking and choosing the parts of scripture that we “feel like” obeying. The word is not meant to be pigeonholed for our comfort. It is also not meant to be applied to some situations and not others. That being said, scripture is clear on the topic of lying. “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.” (NIV 1989 version). This verse is one of many in scripture that talks about lying and it states that God detests lying. He hates and abhors it. When we tell our children that a fictitious person is going to bring them gifts for Christmas. We are lying. When we tell them that he will come with his reindeer and sleigh with their gifts, we are lying. When we tell them to write a letter to Santa telling him what they want for Christmas because he will bring them something they want off that list, we are lying. When we tell them he is watching their every move to find out if they have been naughty or nice, we ARE lying. So, help me understand how lying to our children is setting a Godly example for them. How can we possibly tell our children not to lie when we have spent years and years lying to them? God’s standard does not change. He expects us to be truthful despite the fact that it might not be the most popular route to take.

Narrow way

“...For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

Not many Christians are willing to walk the path of unpopularity. Most would much rather take the path of least resistance. They would much rather take the broad road. In our many travels, we have found that many American Christians would rather compromise their faith to make life easier then sacrifice and face potential persecution for walking the narrow road. Our human flesh does not want to be the odd ball out. We want to fit in with the crowd. (To read more about this concept read my previous post entitled "Sold Out.")

Persecution

“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” 2 Timothy 3:12 (emphasis mine).

May I suggest, those of us who are not facing any type of persecution or push back from this world are not living a godly life. Ouch, a painful thought isn't it. We should not only expect people to be offended by our decisions, but we should embrace the fact that this is who God has called us to be. We are foreigners in this world, not natives. We were never meant to fit in here. Our residence is in heaven. Deep breath!

Father God, help us to lean deep into you this Christmas season. Help us to lean not on our own understandings but in all of our ways acknowledge you so you can make our paths straight. Help us to demolish strongholds that set themselves up against the knowledge of you. We realize that the attack against your Son is real and in full force. Give us the strength not to be intimidated by the crowd who is going one way when your word tells us to go another way. Lord, lead us not into the temptations of this life but deliver us from them. Give us the backbone that we need to stand up for righteousness. Give us a heart to embraces the persecution that is going to come when we live a godly life. We ask all this in the precious name of your one and only Son, Jesus Christ.

Provision In Obedience

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Matthew 4:18-22 (emphasis mine)

This portion of scripture clearly shows an unadulterated faith and obedience in Jesus Christ. These men recognized instantly the power and authority that was upon Him and did not hesitate to lay aside the things of this life to follow. Jesus had just begun His ministry and I am sure these men had heard from John the Baptist, but it is quite possible that this is the very first time that they had actually laid eyes on Him. Can you imagine leaving everything you have ever known to go with someone you have just met? I’m sure they had great anticipation of His coming since John the Baptist had relentlessly paved the way for His coming. I can only assume that they did not feel that they were meeting a stranger but a long-awaited friend and in the moment when their eyes locked they did not question His words. Jesus said come and they left the security of their jobs and families and without hesitation and followed.

As I have shared with you all a previous post our family has undergone a similar experience. We have left a secure job, our home, and everything we knew to be our “security” and followed. But can I just say this, when He calls and you go, your needs will always be taken care of. There will always be provision when we move in obedience! We have spent the last 3 months on the road raising funds for Liberia, West Africa and we are gearing up for another 3 months before we can leave for Liberia. We continue to pray that the funds come in to not only get us on the ground but to keep us there so we can do the things God has laid in our hearts to do. We are learning that our God is not limited in the slightest. He is also very creative in his ways of provision. When a family of five lives on the road for three months you can better believe that this is not cheap! But We watched the Lord use people in amazing ways to meet needs that we were not even expecting or asking for! Just as it says in Ephesians “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” Ephesians 3:20. There were so many times we did not even ask or think about God providing in the ways that He did, but to this day He continues to astound us in His creative abilities the ways He provides for His children.

Examples

When traveling on the road we often found ourselves eating fast food. And let me tell you, this gets old quick! One of our go-to places to alleviate the greased down feeling that most fast food joints leave you feeling with is Subway. It is a much healthier option when you're in need of something quick. Like usual, we were standing in line conversing with the other customers. We often get asked why our kids are “out of school.” Well, since they are homeschooled this is an easy segway into what we are doing as a family. We get through the line and ready to pay and the cashier tells me that my bill has been taken care of. I almost cried! Here we were a family of five minding our own business and someone was willing to bless us with a meal. I looked around and caught eyes with the lady standing behind me in line and realized she had taken care of our meal. With tears in my eyes, I thanked her. My children quickly followed suit. We were completely blown away by God’s hand in it all.

While we are on the road we live out of a travel trailer. It is a tight squeeze, but it’s home and that thought seems to alleviate some of the discomforts of the close quarters. When you live in a travel trailer full time it is bound to have both the normal wear and tear of the road plus the general maintenance that any travel trailer is going to need. So when our initial three months was done we took it to an RV shop and told them everything we needed to be done. We had mentioned that we were paying about $50 a month to store it in a storage unit and he told us that we could store it at his shop for $30 a month. He stores a number of other trailers and RVs and that it would not be a problem. This was great news! Any way we could cut costs is always helpful! We also had the opportunity to share what we are doing as a family and upon hearing his, the owner of the RV shop got so excited. He had just started going to church about a year ago. So, it was very evident he was still a very new and eager Christian, such a refreshing thing to see! He talked about his wife and how faithful she had been over the years with church and now he had finally decided to join her and does not regret it one bit. He was so moved by our story he actually called up his wife while we were standing there. He shared with her that he offered to store our trailer for us, but he said: “we can’t charge them for that can we?” To which his wife quickly replied, “No we can’t.” So, now we have a safe place to store our trailer free of charge! Praise the Lord! After getting off the phone with his wife he told us he would take a look at our trailer, let us know if there was anything else that needed to be taken care of and give us a total cost before he did any work. We didn’t want to end up with a huge bill and wonder how we were going to juggle paying for it when it came.

About a week went by and we hadn’t heard from the RV shop and we were getting a little worried. When the phone call did come the RV shop owner ran down through the extensive list of work he had done to the trailer. This made my husband extremely anxious because we had specifically asked to have an estimate before the work was done. As the owner finished out the laundry list of items he concluded with this… “And your total comes to a whopping ZERO!” My husband was speechless. The RV shop owner had taken care of all of the things we needed to be fixed on the trailer plus did some things that we hadn’t expected all because he wanted us to be safe on the road! Wow! If that is not the hand of God, I don’t know what is. The total was over $800.00 but the bill said paid in full! It still makes me cry as I share this story with you all. Our God is so awesome! “...He will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22 (NLT)

When we were on the road time and time again we had people who give directly to our family rather than through the organization we are with so that they could help with food and gas. It truly was amazing to watch God’s hand of provision rise up. There was never a need that did not go unmet. We never lacked for a single thing. This is when you can be certain that you have heard the voice of the Lord correctly because “my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Heavenly Father, I thank you that you meet all of our needs according to your riches in glory. I thank you that when you ask us to follow you that you will always provide for us, you are never going to let the righteous fall or your seed begging for bread. Thank you for taking care of us in the calling. Your hand is never too short! Our needs are always taken care of, even those needs we did not see coming or were not asking for, you have already provided a way for. Thank you! Help us to hear your voice when you call and not to question, but to follow without hesitation just like Simon, Andrew, James, and John. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus.

Love (Part 8)

Looking back on the last 7 weeks of posts and trying to wrap my mind around the vastness of our Father’s love is just so indescribable to me. But if I could sum it up it would come to this, God’s love is a lavished love without conditions and limits. It comes freely with no strings attached and no expectations. His love never grows tired, weary, or discontent with us. His love is patient, kind and respectful. It honors and elevates, hopes in and protects our hearts. His love is never boastful, proud, rude or arrogant. Our Father’s love is serving and selfless. It is slow to anger and abounding in adoration for us. It keeps no records of our mistakes and it carries our sins upon its shoulders. The precious love of God is rich in grace and mercy and drenched with compassion. His love rejoices over us with wholehearted zeal. His love yearns to be with us so much so that it causes Him to passionately pursue a relationship with us. This just scratches the surface of God’s love, but it has been enough to prove to my insecure self that I have a daddy who loves me more than words can even express and in my moments of doubt I find myself needing to rehearse these very words you have just read about His love. I know that this journey of discovering God’s love is not over, but I have just been simply undone by the immensity of it all! My prayer is that you have been able to discover some beautiful truths about our Heavenly Father’s love for you and that it profoundly affects your heart for eternity.

We have spent five weeks discussing 1 Corinthians 13:5-7, but what is important to note is the verses that precede this section of scripture.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Love trumps all the giftings and talents we might have. There is nothing in our talents, abilities or God-given giftings that can withstand the test of time. When we operated without God’s love it is only a matter of time before someone recognizes that we are in it for the love of self. When we get right down to it, if we don’t have a love for God, we have a love of self, and that is precisely the kind of love the world recognizes as flakey, fakey and a bunch of bologna. Everything about us must be married and interwoven with God’s love flowing in us and through us or we truly are worth nothing to this world. Let’s face it, this world has enough talented people who do not love with the love of Christ, we certainly don’t need to add to that list of individuals. We don’t want to be the resounding gong in the ears of this unbelieving world, but rather the tender whisper of the precious love of Christ. That tender whisper will draw those around us to our Heavenly Father.  

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

There are so many hidden truths yet to be revealed to my heart, but one thing I know for sure God’s love is the most important truth my heart needs to grab hold of and never let go. As we close out this series on love, I pray that your heart is drawn ever closer to the steadfast love of our Heavenly Father. He loves you to the cross and back.

Our precious Lord, there are no words to express the gratitude in our hearts for your unfailing love you have for us. Thank you for flooding us with a kind of love that chases after us in a very passionate way. Help us to grasp how wide, how long, how high and how deep your love is for us so that we can be a vessel used to pour out your love into a lost and dying world. Lord, we do not want to be a clanging gong in the ears of others, but rather a sweet and tender whisper that draws many to your feet. Let your love in us be evident to everyone we meet. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ.  

To read the other posts from this series on God’s love please go to the Love series page.