Will-Power??? What an incredible discovery! I have no will-power! Now--before you laugh... you need to know that you don't have any either. Nobody does. There's no such thing as will "power"... Don't misunderstand me, you have a WILL for sure--and you absolutely use it to make choices all the time, but there's no "power" associated with it. If there was Paul woudn't have written (Romans 7, check it out).. Let me try to explain it this way--out of the millions of times I have proclaimed, "I quit! I'm never going to __________ again!" The only times I was able to be successful were the times that I found some kind of support -- or source of outside strength to help me... a friend to hold me accountable... my Savior to strengthen me, etc.. A great example--I used to smoke--I quit 10,000 times... but it never stuck--until I surrendered to Christ and got plugged into a new circle of friends who all provided accountability, encouragement, strength and support... then I quit. We don't fail because we lack will power or desire to do good. There are other---more basic and powerful factors that lead us into failure. They are: 1) Our sin nature. 2) Our World View, and 3) Our Context. We'll talk more about our Sin Nature (sometimes called "the flesh") in other articles. For now, let's focus on the second two. If you get # 2 and 3 straightened out--you'll be amazed at how much they will help you with #1. Your World View will Make you -- or Break You. By "World View" I mean--what is your view of God, self, life the world and everything in it? I.e. Who is God? Why are you here? What's the meaning of Life?, etc. If you view God as distant, unconcerned about you personally, uninvolved in your life, critical of your weaknesses and failures and void of compassion, THAT will have a huge impact on the way you live and relate with God, others and yourself. On the other hand--if you understand God the way Jesus did, as your loving, gracious, concerned, caring, generous, compassionate Heavenly Father--THAT will totally impact and shape the way you think, live, relate with God, self and others, etc. So, if you are striving to grow closer to God---you need to get to know God as Jesus knew Him (this is what the Gospels are all about) you need to understand and truly believe that He loves you... is concerned about you... desire to be with you FAR MORE than you will ever be able to desire to be with Him... that He is not critical of you--yes, He is holy and sin is sin... but if you come to Him with a humble, thankful, repentant heart--He is graceous and eternally willing to embrace you, love you, bless you, renew you, strengthen you, lead you... and we could go on an on with all that God wants to do in our lives. Your Context will also make or break you. Why do you think the Bible spends so much time exhorting us to: ... spend time with other believers in community... ...meditate on the Word of God... ... devote ourselves to prayer and fasting... ...engage in intensional acts of service and kindness in Jesus' name.... etc? Why do you think Paul reminds us that "bad company corrupts good character"? (1 Cor 15:31) It's all about "context" ... who/what we surround ourselves with... immerse ourselves in... commit ourselves to... and feed our mind and spirit on a consistent basis. I love Pastor Rick Warren's thought on this, "We make our commitments, and then our commitments make us." I would also remind you -- that prior to your decision to follow Christ--you were shaped by a lot of different contexts-- perhaps it was a family that filled you with unhealthy or inacurate ideas about "religion" or "your own sense of worth," etc. Perhaps your time in school filled your head with "anti-christian truth claims." Our culture absolutely shouts and proclaims all kinds of lies about "who we are"..."where we come from"... "what true success is" etc... that run 100% counter to God's Word. Without question we have all been affected by some of the these. Salvation and forgiveness come into our lives the moment we surrender our life to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior---but Salvation does NOT automatically erase all of the "anti-God" ideas, etc. that our pasts have poured into us. This is why we must choose to WALK WITH GOD --and seek to grow in Him. Never forget--If Salvation was all there was to the Christian life---the Gospels would be the only New Testament Scripture we'd need. The rest of the NT is all about LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE... and learning to walk with God. Here are just a few of the many passages to speak to this... 2 Corinthians 3:18 "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." Ephesians 4:20-24 "But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life…. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy." 1 Tim 4:7-8 "…train yourself to be godly. 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." Colossians 3:10-11 "Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better. It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian, and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us." It's all about CONTROL! It's all about choosing to control those things WE CAN control... so that we are better eqipped to navigate through situations that we CAN NOT control. You can't control what will happen to you today.. or any day. But you can choose to seek God with your whole heart (through lots of ways that I'll be sharing about in other articles) and you can commit to developing friendships with fellow brothers and/or sisters in Christ--for fellowship, prayer, accountability and encouragement. I.e. you can commit to being a disciple of Jesus and to viewing life through the lense of His Lordship and Word. 2+2=4... A renewed mind and a godly context = a deep walk with God. Note: I'm 'NOT trying to reduce our walk with God down to some legalistic formula, or list religious activities... and if you approach it this way--you are destined for missery and utter failure. But, I am proclaiming, as I believe the Bible and our Savior proclaim--that if we will choose to pursue and embrace God as our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as our very best friend, Savior and Lord... and thus position ourselves in godly contexts (I.e. in the Word, in Prayer, in Community -- seeking to know Him better) those "contexts" will impact our lives and God will use them to transform us and lead us into deeper fellowship Him. Listen, I get it--so far--I just sound like every other preacher, saying, "You just need to go to church, read your Bible and pray." But, trust me--as you continue to read these SOUL TRAINING articles--you will discover a much more doable, practical, graspable and transformational plan than that. It's not rocket science and it won't cost you a dime. However, in another very real way--it will cost you your life. That sholdn't surprise us, Jesus taught us this, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:25). Questions? Comments? Prayer Requests? Please feel free to email me at pastorbrad@aol.com. Blessings, pb |
