You can use this?

I think it was Norman Vincent Peale who reminded us it is always too soon to quit. There are a lot of things we chase after in life, sometimes quitting just short of ever achieving whatever it is we are chasing after. We chase after a lot of things in life, but I have come to the conclusion not all of them are really worth chasing. Sometimes we chase stuff which brings us grief and disappointment - not exactly the best outcome, huh? This chasing is a part of a much deeper issue - we lack satisfaction or contentment, so we 'chase' and 'chase' and 'chase'. Contentment is a state of being "at ease" in our mind, soul, and spirit. We don't need activity because we are already at rest. Sometimes ceasing is the best remedy to chasing! Satisfaction really is that deeper sense of being grateful - fulfilled in what we have and who we are.

Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. (I Corinthians 14:1)

Today we will look at the importance of pursuing the right stuff - in turn, that pursuit will bring us into a place of contentment like nothing else in this lifetime ever can. It is in the giving of ourselves to the gifts God gives us that we find our greatest place of contentment (fulfillment). Before you tell me you don't have any "gifts" or "talents", let me assure you - you have talents and gifts way beyond your imagining! Too many times, we limit ourselves by the belief we don't possess the "right stuff" to do what it is God is asking us to do. We often don't know the "talent" God may need in a particular moment or circumstance - but he does. If he places us smack dab in the middle of the need - we must have something he desires to be used in serving to meet the need! In reviewing our "spiritual gifts" we often discount the very "practical gifts" we have been given, such as our talent to balance a set of accounting books, the ability to proof a term paper, the skill to teach tough subjects, or the awesome ability to make people feel very welcomed in a group.

We somehow think the "spiritual gifts" God is looking for are all these "mystical" gifts like the "word of knowledge" or the "prophesying" of a new revelation to the church. As important as these gifts are, the most important gift we have to offer Christ is ourselves - complete with every "natural talent" we have. In turn, God takes what we consider "natural" and turns these into something he considers "super-natural". When we are in service with the talents we possess, he is honored! We are to "go after" a life of love as if our "lives depended on it". We are left with no doubt here - our life depends upon our pursuit of all God has for us. When we are "going after" something, there is a tenacity (a stick-to-it kind of attitude). We don't want to give up without the reward of what we are pursuing. A life of service may not seem like much of a 'pursuit', but the results are telling.

I wonder just how much we'd be blessed in blessing others with the simple talents we possess? You may be excellent readers - have you ever considered reading to the blind or elderly with failing vision? I know my mother enjoyed it when my sister sat lazily by on the sofa, book in hand, and shared the stories from the Reader's Digest with her. You may be able to herd cats - maybe your toddler's church class could use your talent! You might be able to make a mean cup of coffee - perhaps the ladies need a safe-place for a mom's group. You may be able to teach - there are hundreds of parents having to work through hybrid school right now with no idea how to do this 'new math'. Whatever you possess - give it! You might just be surprised at what God can do with the "simplest" of talents! 

God really wants us to focus on giving what it is we have - not bemoaning the fact we don't have a "particular gift" to give - like the one someone else is giving already. In other words, he doesn't want us to focus so much on what we "don't" have as much as focus on what it is we "do" have. In the giving of ourselves to what it is we recognize as a "talent", "trained area", or "natural bent" we might have, God can bring forth the "spiritual" blessing of our "gift" as it touches the lives of those around us. Don't make too much of the word "gift" - instead, allow God to use you as the need "fits" your temperament and training. Pick up the hammer, drive a few nails, and see what he allows to be built! You might just be surprised to find in the nail hammering, lives are touched! Just sayin!

Skills check-off

What is a preceptor? In many learned skills, there is a process of aligning an individual who has much experience with another who is just starting out in the skill. During a specific period of time, the preceptor 'checks off' the 'newbie' on various skills required for the work at hand. The main purpose of the preceptor is to help the newbie add line upon line, precept upon precept, skill upon skill, until they are deemed able to perform the task at hand without constant oversight. We all look for 'mentors' from time to time in our lives - whether learning a new job, or just trying to learn a new hobby. There is no greater 'mentor' relationship one can have than that which mentors another in the 'skill' of being in a committed and growing relationship with Christ.

God's readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation's available for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness. (Titus 2:11-14)

Older men and women, well-established in their faith, being solid examples for younger men and women to look up to. Why is this important? It is because we learn best by the examples we can see, feel, and connect with frequently. God's readiness to give and forgive is public knowledge! Sometimes we think the things of God are hidden from us, but the scripture tells us differently - maybe because we don't want to see the truth that is right there. God is ready to give - sometimes we just have to be ready to receive! He is ready to forgive - sometimes we just have to be ready to repent! Sometimes the best way to realize this is to be mentored in a relationship that actually helps us to understand the truth we are not able to see ourselves.

This Christian experience is more than a moment-in-time experience. We grow fresh in our connection with Christ each day. We go through life "being shown" how to turn our backs on the old stuff of our sinful life and to embrace the good stuff of the life in Christ. The need for mentors or preceptors implies that we don't just "get it" alone - we need to be shown - we need examples. I know this is true for me - an example speaks louder than any words in the "instruction manual". I think that is why those 'put it together at home' furniture packages come with pictures, not just words!

A picture speaks louder than words! What we can perceive through observation cements the words to an actual lifestyle - seeing right choices lived out helps us understand the truths we may be struggling with that just don't seem to have connected with us yet. The preceptor takes it from being "ethereal" to being "real". We have been granted "leaders" in the church that help us make this connection. Yet, God is not stopping with the leaders - we also need to find good "mentors" - older men and women who can lead by example. I don't know who you have in your life that acts as a mentor or preceptor for you, but the truth is that you need someone! When we need to understand forgiveness, we benefit so much from the evidence of a lifestyle that shows the results of walking in forgiveness. To see another embrace forgiveness, despite the ugliness of their past sin, and then to walk in freedom that forgiveness produces allows us to "connect-the-dots" of God's grace, our repentance, and his restoration. 

Did you know that scripture says that we learn "line upon line, precept upon precept"? Yep, it does. Guess what another word for mentor is? Yep, you guessed it - preceptor! So, if we really want to learn what God has in store for us, we would do well to align ourselves with preceptors who can help us learn "line upon line, precept upon precept"! In turn, we become that preceptor to another who needs an example to follow. If you don't think of yourself as an example today, just wait - - - God is making each of us into the best example of his grace he desires for another to see! Just sayin!

Parenting 101

Someone once quipped everyone knows exactly how to raise children except all of us that have children! It is like we needed a user manual, but the product arrived absent that manual! Mom used to say babies needed a little gauge on their tummies with an arrow that pointed to hungry, wet, tired, gassy, and just hold me because. That would have made knowing how to meet their needs much easier, wouldn't it? Now, when they turn into teenagers, the 'gauge' might need to be a little different - right? Maybe the options would be something like "Thinks he knows better than his parents", "Wants your love, but wants to look cool", or maybe even "Cannot figure this thing out and needs your help". Wouldn't it be grand if kids came with instructions and those little 'gauges' that help us figure out how to be better parents? Maybe we aren't given the 'gauge' so much, but we really are given the instructions - we just don't realize it!

Bring up a child by teaching him the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn away from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

The instructions are really as close as the Word of God. If we don't know what to do next - turn to the Word. Don't know where to begin - turn to the Word. Didn't get it right the first time - turn to the Word. Something I have learned about being a teacher - you don't always get it right the first time - sometimes there is a lot of retrying to get it right! We learn by doing - not by just possessing the knowledge. Sometimes I think we get this a little out of focus - thinking we have to know it all in order to take the first step with parenting. The truth is that we learn by doing - and sometimes even 'redoing' what we have done because we didn't do it too well the first time around. There is nothing more powerful to a parent-child relationship than for the parent to admit they didn't get things right the first time around. When the child sees the parent can make mistakes, then regroup and set things in order to do it well the next time, or at least give it a good try again, there is a connection made that allows the child to know they don't have to be perfect either!

God doesn't expect us to get things perfect each time, but when we make mistakes, he'd like us to step back, examine where we might have gone wrong, and then seek his advice on how we set out again to get things right. This is how we learn - we make mistakes - see where we made those missteps - and then set out again to do things better the next time. We may not get it perfect the second or subsequent times, but each time we set out again, we develop a little more understanding of where the failure points are and how to avoid them! This is all we can hope for in life - that we see the failure points and learn how to take steps around them instead of 'retaking' those steps.

God doesn't bring up his kids with an 'iron fist' - he allows us to make mistakes. It isn't because he doesn't love us immensely, but because he knows those mistakes can actually drive us closer to him. Many of us are like the teenager - wanting to admit we need his help, but too 'cool' to ask for it. He doesn't need a gauge to know we need that help, but he values us asking for it! Why? In the acknowledgement that we don't know what to do or how to regroup from what we have done, we are connecting with him. Isn't that what a parent really desires in relationship with their children - connection to be maintained? 

Your parenting skills aren't gonna be perfect - but guess what - - - you aren't all that perfect at being a child either! As much as we need his help to be great parents, we need just as much help being great kids who are totally and consistently connected with him! Just sayin!

Principle 5: Choose to Serve Wisely

Skill is defined as the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice, and aptitude, to do something well - even to the point of excelling.  Some might say this individual possesses a sense of confidence as they perform their tasks - ability revealed in complete dexterity to perform the functions required.  Others might say this individual consistently exceeds expectations - not just that they "meet" them, but that they go above and beyond what the typical worker might accomplish with the same amount of effort.  Sometimes skill is a learned thing - at others, it is like an innate aptitude to "just do it". I always marvel at those who possess a skill without much effort - there aptitude revealing their ability repeatedly and with consistency.  To coin a phrase, maybe they are born with it.  Others have to work quite hard to develop the same level of skill that the individual with "innate aptitude" just seems to slip right into.  The skilled worker, regardless of their skill being learned or "innate", is in high demand - because they can be counted on to perform at a consistent level of "output".  As scripture puts it, "they will serve before kings" - because the best of talent rises to the top, doesn't it?

Observe people who are good at their work—skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a backseat to anyone.  (Proverbs 22:29 MSG)

We need to take notice of those who possess "skill" for the work they are called to perform - for we can learn much from their "performance" if we will just begin to see it through eyes willing to learn from what we observe.  Did you know that the original meaning of "skill" was actually one who exhibited understanding or discernment?  This might just help us to put our passage into context a little.  When we are observing someone who has "understanding" of a task at hand, we are able to see how they process the "pieces" of the task and handle them with such ease.  In learning from their "understanding" of the task - the things they discern about the phases of that task - we can learn to undertake similar tasks, as well.

Do you desire to serve before kings?  Or perhaps one "King" in particular (namely God himself)?  There is an opportunity to serve afforded to each of us, but we need to develop our understanding and discernment of the tasks ahead of us.  As we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we want to keep in mind his overriding authority in our lives - but we don't serve just because we "have" to, but because it is an honor to use our skill for his glory. The "reason" for their service is not to bring glory to themselves, but to give all glory to the one who gave them the ability to perform these tasks in the first place.

We choose to serve in various manners throughout life - some will utilize our skill set to the maximum, while other areas of service will only skim the surface of all we are capable of performing as a child of God.  Where we choose to serve makes a huge difference.  I have been in positions in my life of serving a wide variety of individuals - utilizing my "understanding" and "discernment" sometimes to the fullest, but not consistently.  It is a tremendous thing to be in a position to use what God has given you to the fullest ability each and every day.  

It always makes me think when I come across an individual who says they have "no skill" or "aptitude" for anything - maybe they call it not having any "talent".  This just is not possible because each of us is created with an aptitude of some sort, we often just haven't tapped into it yet!  We need to ask God to reveal to us what it is we have a "bent" toward - this is often the beginning of the revelation of what our "skill set" might just be.  If we want to serve and serve well, we need to know what "skills" we can best bring to the table, don't we?  God's word reminds us we "have not because we ask not".  We lack wisdom of our aptitude because we don't ask him to reveal it to us.  When we finally ask, he is faithful to reveal.  Just sayin!

I have lots of tools!

If you have ever taken to leaning on your own understanding, you might have just limited yourself to whatever is in your "toolbox"!  I like to do little odd jobs around the house, tackling some of the projects myself - some call it being a "do-it-yourself" kind of thing.  Yet, there are some tasks which are just outside of my "scope" because I neither possess the knowledge to perform the task, nor the tools to make the job turn out well.  If you have ever tried to hammer in a nail with the heel of your shoe, you know exactly what I mean!  You might get it into drywall, but if you hit a stud behind that drywall, it isn't going anywhere!  I have come to recognize my "toolbox" and my "skill level" are not always aligned either.  I possess a few more power tools than I really am proficient at using!  I dabble with them, but that circular saw still frightens me!  I imagine severed finger tips and it just gives me the willies!  In a spiritual sense, we kind of limit ourselves whenever we only focus on the "tools" we have in our toolbox, and whenever we rely upon just our own abilities to get the job done, we often don't tap into the expertise which would make the "job" a little easier!

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.  Don’t assume that you know it all.  Run to God! Run from evil!  Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!  Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best.  Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.  But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction.  It’s the child he loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this.  (Proverbs 3:5-12 MSG)

If you didn't get the first line of this passage, read it again - for to understand trust, we have to realize it is a "heart thing".  Trust involves more than just my mental understanding - just like owning a tool does not make me proficient in its use.  Trust also involves my emotional response - I have to learn to use the tools I am given.  The mental understanding part is our coming to a place where we know and believe in the character of the one we are placing our trust in.  

I have that circular saw - I know it cuts wood much better than my trusty hand saw, and I know it has power I don't possess which can help me get the job done quickly.  I have seen others use the same tool, with seeming ease and practiced skill.  They have this ability to use it because they have done more than just develop a mental understanding of the tool's abilities and strengths - they have made the emotional investment! When I don my goggles, clamp down my wood, place my saw guide securely in position, remove my fingers from a position of danger - I move from mental understanding of the tool to the emotional response of actually hitting the "on" button and allowing that blade to whirl around at speeds which allow it to slice through the wood like butter!  

When we take the step from just mental understanding into the place of emotional response, we "turn on" the power we lack on our own.  We are putting ourselves "out there" in a position of trusting in what we know about God.  His character is learned through our mental understanding - what we read about him, what others tell us, and what we have come to experience first hand.  Our trust moves us from just knowing into a place of allowing his action on our behalf to actually give us an ability we don't possess on our own.  We are no longer focusing on our own ability, strength, or confidence to get the job done - we are allowing him to "power on" his!  Our part is to trust with everything we are - both the mental and emotional!  

A word of caution here - we aren't going to get very far if all we depend upon is our own understanding.  We can come into understanding of truths about God and his ways, but they are not going to become effectual in our lives until we cross over from the place of mental understanding into emotional response.  Our understanding is always subject to being affected by the circumstances - we can misread the situation and be way off base, as a result. When I fear the tool I am given, I begin to avoid its use.  The job is harder when I don't use the tools I am given.  As long as I fear losing a finger, I will never use the tool!

Our understanding is also affected by the people involved in a circumstance and the past experiences we have had in similar situations.  I am a nurse, so I have seen the severed fingers!  I have seen the nails from nail guns put through toes!  I could allow these past experiences to keep me away from the use of these "tools" myself.  I have also seen some folks pretty sloppy in their own use of the their tools - so if I follow in their footsteps, I could actually end up with the injuries I so greatly fear!  

We are to seek his will in all we do and he promises to guide our paths.  A seeker has several character traits - a passion for that which they pursue; a desire to discover new things about the one they seek; a lack of fear of making requests that will help to uncover what may have previously been hidden; and an unwillingness to give up short of finding what they seek!  If we want to get to know the tools in our toolbox, we have to seek to understand them, then take them out, trusting the one who has given them to us to guide us in their use.

So, not sure what tools you are struggling with using today, but just know this - a tool in your toolbox is of no real use until it is the right tool for the job. When it is the "right" tool for the job, to settle for any other tool is really kind of counter-productive and makes the job a whole lot more difficult to accomplish.  We have to get to know the tools we have been given, then be willing to take them out, using them where they are most needed!  Just sayin!