The Unused Potential of Receiving Gifts

I happened across an amazing stat the other day that is pretty relevant for this time of year.  Ten billion of gift card money goes unused every year...$10,000,000,000 unused every year...wow.  I think there’s a lot of things I could get done with $10 billion every year, if no one really wants that.  We think that’s kind of crazy to just leave money laying there, but the reality is as Christians, we do this all the time.

All the time, God is giving us gifts of blessings.  Maybe, we’ve been praying for something to happen in our career or a situation to be resolved in a relationship or a financial situation, and then God comes through.  Sometimes, it’s more behind the scenes, and we just pass by it almost obliviously because we thought we got lucky or fortunate and don’t even consider that God did it at all.  Even at the times we completely realize the gift that God has given us at the moment, we can leave a big part of the gift unclaimed.  How?  In taking the time to reflect on it and give thanks to Him for it.

When we take time to thank God for things, it causes us to analyze all that it took to make that particular thing happen.  It reminds us that God can do things in situations that we can’t do and although, we are not in control, He is and is Someone that we can go through.  As Christians, it increases our faith in multiple ways.  Since God came through all those barriers, we can trust Him to come through on bigger things.  It increases our “faith stamina” to wait on God next time, when the answer seems longer than usual.  

So many times, the reason that we give up on God is because we’ve left millions of “gift card” dollars in blessings unrealized is because we haven’t thanked God and created a mental history list of all the things He has done.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “in all things, give thanks” and that’s not just to recognize God, but God has made it so that it builds us up in doing so.  When you have that history, it reinforces you in tough times, when the answers take longer to come, and it keeps your mind at ease, because you know, that God has a plan...just like He had a plan since the beginning of time to send His Son as His gift to the world and that’s why we are giving each other gifts at this time of year.

The next time you get a blessing from God, or a gift card, make sure you take the time to get all the dollars out of that “gift” and don’t let your blessing be a crazy statistic that goes unclaimed and unused.

Thoughts on Suffering from Life Action

I thought I'd share some thoughts from the Life Action teaching, mixed with some things that God added through thought and meditation on the subject of suffering.

Suffering is an avoided concept in Scripture.  It's not pretty.  No one wants to do it (certainly not me).  I really don't like that this is a part of Scripture, but it is and it is a part of being a Christian.

I think we think we can ignore it and it will got away, then life will be easier and everything will be fine, but that's not true.  Jesus said that if you are to follow Him, you'll have troubles, period...going to happen.  That signifies that "sin" is in the world...it's a given.  Things don't follow God, there are problems.

If you ignore it, it will do you know good, because you'll have troubles and life will be hard, but you still won't get the benefit of suffering.  1 Peter 2:20-21 says this

20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?

 In other words, when you go against God or do something that is unwise that God has told you not to do or not told you to do and life is tough...that's not suffering...that is "conflict" and there is no good in you toughing out that.  That's foolish.  That's natural consequence of refusing to acknowledge and follow God.  If you don't follow Christ at all and your marriage is in a shambles, that's not suffering for Jesus.  That's trying to do something in a way and for a reason that it was never intended for, because marriage doesn't work without Christ in the center...because he's necessary for the reason it exists.  I've heard it said best that "Marriage doesn't exist to make us happy, but to make us holy."  Yep, not so we can have kids, grow old and die together and always have a date on New Year's Eve.

Also, it's not "chastisement"...you have participated in something so long that God is allowing extra consequences to come to you because He's trying to steer you away from damaging behavior, thoughts or directions that are hurting you and dishonoring Him...that's not "suffering" and it holds no benefit to keep doing the thing that causes the "chastisement".  Chastisement is meant to train us, but it's not punitive...we aren't "paying for our sins" in the global sense, THAT is more horrible and at a greater price than we can pay.  Jesus did that...He took the ultimate punishment, this is God trying to get us back on the right way by making the wrong way less attractive, but ultimately, we'll make that choice to keep enduring the harshness or turn from it and experience healing and peace.

Then Peter writes...

But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.A)"> 

But suffering is different.  Suffering is when you do right for God and things aren't just rosy and wonderful and you trust God is right anyway...that's a good thing.  It's not just that God is proud of that, but also that it is beneficial for you.  1 Peter 1:7 says these type of trials worth "more than gold"...so basically, these type of sufferings are more valuable than any amount of money for you.  It's amazing that a lot of the time, we miss these trials for 15/hour or whatever the next promotion pays....or we actually PAY money not to have them.

It's like working out...working out is hard...it hurts and sometimes you get injured doing it and you need healing, but it's healthy for you.  You HAVE to carve time in your schedule for it, it's not just an easy thing always.  The same is true in our faith...suffering is God's workout for us.  It's difficult, it's a moment that our weaknesses are exposed, the places that we need help and we are to cry out to God, when we fail Him or when facing a struggle, that we need Him and to "lift our weight" to Him.  How?  By trusting that if we follow what He has said for our lives in His Word, that He will provide...

If you don't think suffering is for you as a Christian, then you might want to mark vs 21 out of your Bible.  It says this...

21 To thisB)"> you were called,C)"> 

Bad start...to "what", to this type of "suffering"...that's what Christ "called" you to do.  These are things like "pressure" or "tough schedules" or "struggles" with things that you don't want to believe or do or sickness or death or whatever...even against the desire to do the "easy" things that aren't of God.  These struggles change us.

I always love the excuse that "God made me this way, so He meant for me to be this way"...what a completely illogical argument in Scripture.  When we accept Christ, we are to become a "new creation", because what we were is in conflict with God...  I want to say "Who is this magical, mythical person who becomes a Christian and just does everything, thinks every way, follows every desire, that there were following before?  They don't exist"... and the ones that do AREN'T Christians, according to Scripture.

I think about a friend who met a very needy person at work one day...and as unattractive and hard (and honestly, repulsive) as this needy person's situation was, my friend saw this as God's call for him to change it.  He took her into his home and treated her as his child.  He clothed her, washed her, cleaned up after all the things that she couldn't do for herself because of her physical limitations...it changed him...no, God used it to change him.. 

When she died recently, he said afterwards to me "she was never a burden"...no way?  If I were to list the energy draining schedule,tasks and the sacrifices that he willingly made, when no one else would, not even her family would...you'd call him a liar, but he was "dead serious" and I believe him.  

Why?  

Because in embracing the hardship, God had strengthened him, given him purpose, taught him about loving people, added to him all along the way and made him into something that he was not...God upgraded him.  

I seriously doubt that he would call what he did "suffering", he'd laugh at me if I told him that, but it was, but he found it.  He's already considering the next person he should take in and how God has prepared him for that next experience through this one...when I would be taking a breath, he's raring to jump back into it, because he found the value of suffering.

We should all learn from his example with the sufferings we are to face in our lives...

Sufferings are also things like when God allows a hardship in our life as a test to see where we are, to give us hope in how we've grown while pointing out where we still need Him to function properly ("I need You."). 

Sometimes, these are attacks from Satan that God allows to reach us so that He can use the hardship to better us...and that absolutely must burn the enemy.  When we submit to these and see them as they are, it's like our opponent keeps shooting at his basket and the ball just curves in the air and goes to the other end of the court and goes in ours...that would be maddening for a basketball player if that ever happened.

Then the verse ends with this...

...because Christ suffered for you,D)"> leaving you an example,E)"> that you should follow in his steps.

So this is all because Christ suffered for you...He didn't ask you to do anything on the scale of what He had to do and He never will, but He made the biggest sacrifice first.

Peter points out that this was an EXAMPLE.  That's different.  An example is something that you are to look at to understand in a greater, more vivid way whatever you are given to do is supposed to be like.  It's a picture and suffering is a part of that.

It's an example and in that, we'll follow in His steps.  What we see from Jesus is just not a beaten man, but who at the pinnacle of His suffering, was strengthen and motivated through joy, while being on the cross (Hebrews 12:2)...  We'll never endure what He did, but He proved that joy is possible in the midst of suffering for Christ.

Suffering is necessary, but not wanted.  It's vital, but hated...but unless we embrace it and look at it purposefully, we will be the ones who are left without blessings that God intended for us.

Great God!

You know, today I was reminded of God's supreme planning ability...how he's incredible and all that stuff. It's really amazing how God is putting this whole thing together...for us to join the work He's doing in Palm Bay, Florida as Bay West Church....this new campus of First Baptist Church of Melbourne.

The other day I was praying and was just really impressed with God at all the things He was doing and at the same time, I started to start feeling really inadequate. I started thinking about all the church planters I know that really know what they are doing...are people that I respect tremendously in their walk and was thinking "Why in the world would God be blessing me as the leader of the project so much?" My honest thought was "I just absolutely don't deserve all this, God". It was one of those times that God almost spoke to you...it wasn't audibly, but it was almost like an immediate phrase popped in my head...like an answer to my statement. The reply was "Good...cause I'm not doing this for you, Jim, I'm doing this for Me."

That re-centered me again and also calmed me as well...my inadequacies don't stop the universe or blow God's plan, in fact, I think He prefers using people who don't have it all going on, like me, so He gets more credit...that's certainly more comforting.