Day 21 – Formulas

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."
Psalm 37:3-7

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself wishing that life had a formula. It seems like everything else in life has a formula. If you eat right and exercise, you will be healthy. If you study hard and apply yourself, you will do well in school. If you follow the map precisely, then you will get to your destination. If you do a, then b will happen. Formulas.

But when it comes to life, there doesn’t seem to be any formulas. You can do good every chance you get and still have bad things happen to you. You can be kind and still have people not treat you well. You can try to raise your kids the best way you know how and still they can walk away from what is right. Just because you do a doesn’t guarantee that you will get b. Life is simply unpredictable.

And when it comes to relationship with God, it doesn’t seem to get better. But perhaps it’s because we are looking for formulas when God is wanting us to look for Him. We like formulas because they give us some predictability in life. If I obey God, He will bless me. If I don’t obey God, He will not bless me. But there is a subtle flaw in this logic. The focus in this situation is not God…it’s me. Perhaps God doesn’t give us formulas because He knows that we have a tendency to make them all about us rather than making them all about Him. Let’s look at the passage above as an example.

At first glance, we would say that this is a formula: if we trust in the Lord and do good then we will dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture; if we delight ourselves in the Lord then He will give us the desires of our heart; etc. But again, that would make this passage about us. When we come to prayer and to the Scriptures, we must realize that everything is about Him, not us. The goal of the passage above is not to dwell in the land, or get the desires of our heart, or to get our righteousness to shine like the dawn. The goal of the passage above is for us to trust in the Lord, to delight in Him, to commit our ways to Him, and to be still before Him. When these things are true about us, we won’t be worried about whether or not the other things come. When we make that our a, we won’t need a b to make us happy. Because the a is the goal for us, not a means to get to b. God is our goal, not His benefits.

So as we come to the end of this 21-day journey, let’s always remember that God is the goal of our prayers, of our devotion, of our passion, of our lives. Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” And what is that reward? Him! He is our very great reward! He is our joy, our hope and our life! He is all we need! When God is our goal, we become satisfied even when the circumstances of life are not what we had hoped. Life does have a formula – Seek God first and foremost and He will reveal Himself to you. He may not bring you the answers to all your questions and He may not fix all of your problems. But that’s okay. He will reveal Himself to you! And that, my friend, is all you will ever need.

As you pray, allow these thoughts to prompt your conversation with God.

• Thank God that He is always looking for someone who’s heart is completely His (2 Chronicles 16:9).
• Thank God that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
• Ask God to give you a heart to seek Him above all the other things in your life.
• Ask God to help you to continue on in your prayer journey with Him and to continue seeking Him in His Word.
• Ask God for the strength and commitment to make praying to Him a daily discipline in your life.
• Ask God to bring someone to your heart who can keep you accountable to consistency in your prayer life.

Day 20 – Shine

“Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”
Philippians 2:12-15

Yesterday we started a story about a Hindu student named Chethan who came to faith in Jesus Christ. If you didn’t read yesterday’s story, then go back real quick and at least read Chethan’s story. I’ll wait here for you.

Okay, so here’s the rest of the story. After coming to faith in Christ, Chethan began to devour the Bible. He memorized Scripture like no one I ever saw. He also became extremely consistent in his prayer life and in his involvement with our college ministry. He wanted to serve in any way that we needed and demonstrated time and time again that God had made a tremendous difference in his life. Every once and a while, Chethan and I would go grab lunch or coffee and he would confide in me that he couldn’t understand why the other Christians around him, including those who contributed to his coming to faith, didn’t live out their faith consistently. Over time, this began to gnaw on him; he became frustrated that faith is something that is supposed to consume you, not just an add-on for the rest of your life. In the end, Chethan walked away from Christianity due to the fact that he couldn’t find anyone who was truly living it out in their lives. He assumed it must not be true. Chethan formally renounced his Christian faith and ultimately became a devout Hindu again.

It was one of the saddest days in my life.

That’s why Paul’s exhortation to the Philippian church is so crucial for the church in our day and age. It is so easy for us who have been believers in Christ for a while to forget that a relationship with Jesus is supposed to change everything about our lives. The world needs to see that Jesus makes a difference in the way we drive, the way we work, what kind of students we are, the things we value and the way we love without labels. For a long time, the world looked on to see if the church is relevant for life, to see if God really does change people. They’re not looking on any more because they assume that it doesn’t.

But we can change that.

We can be the people who demonstrate that faith is real and that God has changed us. We can work out our faith out of love and devotion to God. We get to shine and show the world that their labels don’t stick to us. Call us weird, call us weak, call us helpless...it doesn’t stick. We are the children of God. Everything we have is a gift. Every breath we take is a miracle. We will not complain about petty little inconveniences in life when we have a God who endured a cross for us. We won’t be caught up with minor squabbles when there is a world to be loved and shown that a God become man to redeem His creation. Let us be people who not only talk about faith, but who also live out faith in every area of our lives. This way when the people around us are faced with the choice of following Christ, they will be able to see at least one example of what that decision means.

Be the one.

As you pray today, allow the following ideas to foster your conversation with God.

• Thank God that He has come to make a difference in our lives and to make us into the people He created us to be.
• Thank God that Jesus Christ provides us with everything we need to live a fully devoted life, setting us free from the sin that once enslaved us.
• Ask God to keep you sensitive to the way you live your life, keeping you focused on the Kingdom and not just on getting through this life.
• Ask God to help you to be sensitive to those around you and to help you make sure that you are being a faithful witness to the awesome power of God to change people’s lives.
• Ask God to fill you with His Spirit and to help you to become a student of His Word.
• Ask God to give you the opportunity to tell someone in your life about the difference God has made in you.

Day 19 – Relate

“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”
1 Corinthians 9:19-21

His name was Chethan. He was a college student at Louisiana Tech University while I was a college pastor at a church nearby. Chethan was a Hindu student from Bangalore, India and was getting a Master’s in Electrical Engineering. For one of his seminars, He and his team converted a ’66 Mustang into a full-blown Electric Car. He was doing some side work for NASA. Needless to say, Chethan was pretty smart. Some of our students invited Chethan to be a part of our on-campus organization. As our relationship developed, we would often talk about the differences between America and India, Christianity and Hinduism, dating and arranged marriages.

Over a long period of time, with a lot of prayer and with students embracing him as their own, Chethan came to faith in Christ. I can still remember the day we baptized him. He gave personal testimony as to how he believed that Jesus was the Son of God and that He died for our sins. He also spoke of how this decision will cost him everything: family, friends, his homeland – everything. As Chethan went under the water and came out, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as we cheered his commitment and his new life in Christ.

And it all began with a simple conversation.

Nowadays, it seems as though followers of Christ are overwhelmed with the idea of sharing their faith. Most people I talk with seem to feel as though they aren’t qualified, they don’t know enough scripture, or they don’t want to “push” their ideas on someone else. My general response to this is that we need to get a new perspective on what it means to share your faith. Sharing your faith is more than just sharing a Gospel presentation. It begins with a life that seeks to genuinely relate to those we come into contact with everyday. A simple smile; a friendly conversation; a listening ear; and most importantly, a heart that really cares about who this person is and what they are going through. While we may not be able to relate entirely with their experiences, we can easily relate to who they are as people and their need for unconditional love, unfettered friendship and unending commitment to their wellbeing.

As Paul encouraged the Corinthian church, he reminded them that his goal in life was to be a person who was able to relate to the basic needs of those far away from God. He didn’t do the things they did, but he sought to understand who they really were deep down inside and to discover how their story could possibly be intersecting with God’s story. It begins with genuinely caring for people and loving them right where they are, no matter where they are. God is the one who changes their hearts. Our role is to simply be there for them and to demonstrate to them the unconditional love of Jesus.

As you pray today, allow these prompters to fuel your time with God.

• Thank God for the people in your life who loved you when you were far away from God and who demonstrated Christ’s love to you.
• Thank God that He loves you just the way you are and loves you too much to leave you the way you are.
• Ask God for a renewed commitment to His mission of reaching a lost and dying world through His followers.
• Ask God to give you a genuine ability to come alongside those who are far away from Him.
• Ask God to open your eyes to the people in your circles of influence who need someone to relate to their lives, their hopes and their struggles.
• Ask God to place on your heart specific names of people far from Him with whom you can begin developing a genuine friendship with, and ask Him to provide you with opportunity to begin that process in the next couple of days.

Day 18 – Different

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
Romans 12:1-2

In the 1890s, a Russian psychologist named Alexander Pavlov discovered that if you rang a bell each time you fed a dog, over time that dog would begin to salivate each time the bell rang. The theory was that certain triggers in the brain could be conditioned to respond to just about any stimuli in a predictable manner simply by associating the stimulus with an event consistently over time. Ring a bell every time you feed a dog and soon the dog will salivate each time you ring the bell. The term Pavlov’s dog became associated with just about anything that seemed to suggest this kind of conditioned reflex.

It seems as though Pavlov’s theory remains true in our society today. Everywhere you look there are people who seem to be conditioned to respond to what the world views success to be. Even the basic premise behind commercials is that if you eat this food, or wear these clothes, or drive this car, or wear this cologne like these cool, trendy people do in the commercial, then your life will be better than it is right now. Can you believe it? It’s as though these agencies really believe that if they just make a slick, 30 second commercial and ring the right bells then, people will simply – salivate.

And we do. Pavlov’s dog.

In the first century church, Paul was well aware of this theory, though he didn’t name it and he didn’t use animals to prove it. Paul understood that over time, this world would condition a follower of Christ to believe that real living was to imitate the behaviors and customs of the world. Go for the shortcuts. Get your satisfaction now. Don’t abstain for tomorrow what you can enjoy today. Live for the moment. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

Paul urges us to reconsider. He says not to be conditioned and conformed to the image of this world. Instead, we should have our lives transformed into something different as we intentionally train our minds to respond to God’s stimuli – His Word. It’s only after we begin to retrain our minds to believe and respond to God’s Word that we begin to experience the different kind of life that God has prepared for us. It’s impossible to live a godly life with an ungodly mind. And yet there are so many Christians who find their sense of worth, satisfaction and inspiration in this world rather in God’s Word.

Imagine what your life would be like if you truly believed what God’s Word says about who you really are – loved, significant, accepted and secure. Imagine what the world would think about a people who truly lived out the commands of God to love the unlovely, to care for the uncared for, and to forgive the unforgivable. Imagine what the Church could be if the people who claimed to follow Christ stopped following Oprah, Dr. Phil, their hair dressers and their horoscopes and lived their lives according to the standards of God’s Word.

We would be…different. And the world would never be the same.

As you pray today, use the following thoughts to spur your conversation with God.

• Thank God that He has set you free from the bondage of this world’s values and beliefs.
• Thank God that He has given you the mind of Christ and that you have everything necessary for your mind to be renewed.
• Ask God to give you a passion for His Word like you have never had before so that it my shape your values, thoughts and actions.
• Ask God to make you aware of the stimuli in your life that cause you to respond contrary to the way God desires you to respond.
• Ask God to give you the strength to redefine “normal” for your life as you break from the things of this world that you tend to be drawn to.
• Ask God for the strength to be His hands and feet today to those around you, demonstrating that Christianity has relevance for both your life as well as theirs.

Day 17 – Real

"Each time Jesus said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

One of the books we read to our children before bed occasionally is The Velveteen Rabbit. It’s a beautiful children’s story of a stuffed rabbit that belongs to a little boy. The other toys looked down on the toy rabbit due to the fact that they looked more real than the rabbit. They had gears and moving parts and made noises while the rabbit was simply stuffed and made of velveteen. The rabbit’s only friend was an old toy horse that was worn and tattered through years of play. His name was Skin Horse. One day in the closet the Velveteen Rabbit asked Skin Horse a very significant question:

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

For the follower of Christ who longs to make an impact in this world, there is nothing more important than receiving the gift of being REAL. You see, there is a common misconception regarding the faith that when someone chooses to follow Christ, all his or her problems will fade away. If a struggle comes your way then all you have to do is believe more, pray more, attend more, quote Scripture more – just do more. As the Scripture above indicates, maybe the answer isn’t trying to be more, but trying to be less.

As difficulties and struggles come our way, it would seem that Paul’s example is that our best plan of attack for these problems is to acknowledge our own frailty and weakness. This seems so counter to what we are taught in our culture that you make much of what you can do and don’t talk about what you can’t do. But Paul reminds us that the way of Christ is a different way. It’s when we begin to acknowledge that our hair has been loved off, that our eyes have dropped out, and that we’re loose in the joints and shabby that we become more REAL. And REAL is GOOD! It hurts. It’s time consuming. It isn’t fun sometimes. And it is there that we discover Jesus who is perfectly strong and loving and who longs to hold us, carry us and strengthen us. It’s when we are weak that we are strong. It’s when we are vulnerable that we are protected. It’s when we are transparent that we are REAL. And that’s exactly what the world is looking for.

As followers of Christ, we need to demonstrate to the world that there are some REAL Christians out there who are not afraid of their weaknesses and who find their strength in Christ. The reason is because the world is full of people who are weak. The world is full of people who are covering up their struggles with all their gears, moving parts and noises. How freeing it will be for them to know that there is a place they can come with their struggles and find strength. In order for that to happen, though, we are going to have to learn the discipline of being REAL. Not moping, not a doggie-downer, not depressing. Just REAL.

As you pray today, use the following as prompters in your thoughts with God.

• Thank God that He gives you the freedom to be yourself and to be weak in His presence.
• Thank God that He gives you strength through the Holy Spirit through your weaknesses.
• Ask God to help you be more aware of the weak areas of your life and to be open and honest about your need for Jesus’ strength.
• Ask God to help you be more transparent with fellow believers about who you really are, struggles and all.
• Ask God to help you be more authentic with those who don’t walk with Christ so that they may see Christ’s strength in you.
• Ask God for opportunities to get involved in the lives of other people and to be a source of support and hope through their struggles as you point them to Jesus.

Day 16 – In…Not Of

(Jesus praying for His disciples) "I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth."
John 17:14-19

My dad was in the Air Force, so we traveled around a lot when I was a child. By the time I entered Middle School, I had attended 4 different elementary schools. Looking back on the experience, one of the things that I remember is always being the new kid. I consistently seemed to struggle fitting in with the other kids in my classroom. Over time, I stopped trying. For years, I would just blend into the background. I would show up for class, do my schoolwork, and then go back to the safety of my home. In Middle School and High School, I decided to change my approach and do whatever it took to fit in. I compromised in a lot of areas along the way that I still regret to this day. Looking back, I can see a lot of opportunities I missed, simply because I was too insecure to just be myself.

It seems as though there are a lot of times in the Christian life that we can easily become like I was growing up. If we’re not careful, we will swing to one of two extremes: either we will seclude ourselves from the world, going through the motions of life, but quickly retreating to the safety of our Christian friends and family, or we’ll compromise our beliefs in an effort to do whatever it takes to fit in with the culture around us. All the while, we are missing amazing opportunities for God to use us, simply because we are too insecure to just be the people God has called us to be – in the world, but not of the world.

As Jesus was praying for His disciples and for us in this beautiful prayer found in the book of John, we discover that His desire is for His followers to become change agents in this world. Jesus sets His followers up with the news that the world is not going to be pleased about the path that followers of Christ have chosen. In fact, the more we try to adhere to the standards that Jesus has laid out with His life and His teaching, the more our different values will become obviously counter-cultural. The world will, in fact, begin to hate us. And if you look at the world’s perception of Christianity in general, it is fair to say that this world does hate Christians and the faith they represent. And, according to Jesus, that means that we must be doing something right.

Sure there are those who hate Christianity because of all of the hypocrites, the scandals, the fallen within our ranks. But beyond these black eyes to the faith, our world is becoming increasingly anti-Christian. So what do we do?

We press on. We continue to allow God’s Word to change our beliefs, our values and our actions. We intentionally and unapologetically live a life of no compromise. We seek to be pure in thought, in word and in deed. And we engage this world, insisting with our lives and with our words that Jesus is better than anything this world can offer us. We pray for our fallen and encourage our weak. We press on into this world, not avoiding it, not compromising with it, but rather being, living, breathing, working and playing in the world. All the while, we are consistently loving and displaying our great passion for God and reinforcing at every fork in the road that we are not of this world. Our values are different. Our passions are different. Our reactions to the instabilities in life are different. We are in this world, but we are not of this world. And we are willing to love anyone along the way into this amazingly beautiful paradox.

As you pray, allow these thoughts to prompt your conversation with God.

• Thank God that He has created you to live a life of distinction in this world.
• Thank God for His Word that enables you to understand your distinction and empowers you to live out this Christ-following life.
• Ask God to continually make you aware of the areas of your life where you seem to be withdrawing from the world.
• Ask God to also make you aware of the areas of your life where you may be compromising with the world.
• Ask God to give you a resolve to press on and to be a person who represents Him no matter what the consequences are.
• Ask God to give you a heart of compassion for those in your life who don’t understand and possibly even hate what it is you stand for. Ask for opportunities to love them in spite of the way they treat you as a way of demonstrating this beautiful life in Christ.

Day 15 – With Great Power

“So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, 'Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?' He replied, 'The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!'"
Acts 1:6-11

Long before the movie came out in 2002, Spiderman has been one of my all time favorite super heroes. I guess it’s because you have this ordinary guy named Peter Parker who is just trying to make it through life until he has this extraordinary experience that changes him forever. A radioactive spider bites Peter and that one bite slowly changes his DNA and begins to empower him with amazing abilities. Now Peter has super-human strength, the ability to climb walls, a heightened sensory awareness and, of course, the ability to shoot webs from his wrists – something I’ve always thought was very cool. As Peter begins to control his new powers, he slowly realizes that his powers aren’t just for him. He begins to feel an obligation to help those who can’t help themselves. Peter understands this one concept that shapes everything else he does in life:

With great power comes great responsibility.

Essentially, that is the same message that Jesus leaves with His first century followers and, ultimately, with us. In the passage above, Jesus has experienced the cross, the burial and the resurrection, and He is now preparing His followers for what their next phase of the journey will be. They ask Him if He is about to restore the nation of Israel to its autonomous power and rid them from their Roman oppressors. After telling them “no,” Jesus tells them that they will have an extraordinary experience that will change them forever. The Holy Spirit is going to “bite” them and that one bite is going to change them and empower them with amazing abilities.

Power. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon those who follow Christ and give them power. Power to overcome the enemy. Power to overcome sin. Power to be victorious in life. Power to forgive. Power to withstand temptation. Power to display the fruit of the Spirit. Power to move mountains. God-sized, Jesus-bought, Spirit-endowed power. “But”, Jesus said, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Jesus’ whole message to these guys is that His followers will receive power and His followers will be His witnesses everywhere they go. All too often, we who follow Christ get consumed with the idea of the Spirit’s power to change us. We obsess about the areas that we still need to grow in, and we get frustrated when we have areas that aren’t changing. We wonder why God isn’t keeping up His end of the bargain when we are trying to do our part by following Him the best we can. The answer is simple – that was never the bargain. While it is true that God desires to help us to become better people who love Him more and who learn to overcome sin and temptation, that is not the primary purpose of the Spirit coming upon His people and giving them power. The power is given to fulfill the purpose of being Christ’s witnesses everywhere we go.

God is on mission to reach this world and to give people everywhere who are living ordinary lives, just trying to make it through another day, an opportunity to experience an extraordinary life filled with power and purpose. And we are the messengers. We are the ones He has called to tell them that there is more. We have been given the power, the authority, the ability and the responsibility to let people everywhere we go know that Jesus can change them too.

So be a Christ-follower with power. But recognize that with great power comes great responsibility. With great power comes a great purpose: to be Christ’s witnesses everywhere we go.

As you pray today, let the following ideas prompt your conversation with God.

• Thank God that He is a God who is on mission to reach this world.
• Thank God that He reached you and changed you and filled you with His Spirit.
• Ask God to empower you to live each day for Him and for His glory.
• Ask God to help you redefine the purpose of your life so that everywhere you go, you will be a witness for Christ.
• Ask God to give you courage and boldness to tell people what He has done for you.
• Thank God that He has given you a church that is on mission with Him and ask Him to help you find where you can best serve the cause of that mission in your church.