Do you ever have those moments when the Holy Spirit steps on your toes? Well, I had one of those moments last night as I was preparing the lesson for my small group. At first I was not sure what God was leading me to share with my girls. I watched Francis Chan’s message from Passion 2014 and felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit. This was the message He wanted me to share with my small group. I had a feeling if He stepped on my toes while I watched and studied His word, then He would do the same for the girls. I love when God gives you confirmation in what you sense He is leading you to do! It’s so awesome!!
Francis Chan spoke on 2 Peter 1:3-9. I was so challenged through his message. Here is what the scripture says,“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”
WHOA!!! God did not call us to live mediocre lives. He called us to his own glory and excellence. I love this. It got me thinking how often we as Christians live safe, predictable, mediocre lives. This is not how God intended us to live. He calls us to excellence. For me, I think this looks like living with wreckless abandon and being a light in all the darkness that surrounds us. Christians should be the most joyful people on the planet, not afraid to step out in faith whatever the cost. I think we tend to blend in because it’s easy and we don’t have to worry about offending someone. God has not called us to blend in, but to stand out, to be different. We are to speak the truth and to do so in love. Chan broke down this scripture so beautifully. He described virtue as being morally excellent. I had never thought of virtue in that light before, but I think it is a fantastic description. I want to live a morally excellent life, a life pleasing to God.
When Chan began speaking about knowledge and self-control that’s when my toes really began to be stepped on by the Holy Spirit. Knowledge, I like to think I have quite a bit. After all, I have a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. That has to mean something, right?! Intellect is not the kind of knowledge, Peter is talking about in this passage of scripture. He is talking about being a student of the Word. I have heard people say “I don’t know the Bible” or “I don’t know God very well”. How can we expect to know Him, if we don’t spend time with Him in His Word. Chan said if we read the Bible just 10 minutes a day, we could read through the entire Bible in one year! 10 minutes, that’s crazy! If you think about it, how do you know anything about a friend or a significant other? Obviously, by spending time with them. It’s the same with God. We live in a culture that is so easily distracted. We might be too tired when we get home from work, just want to watch some tv or even sleep in 15 more minutes. Something I have learned over the course of my life, we make time for the things we want to make time for. If we do not make the time to spend with our Father, there will always be something to distract us from knowing Him more fully and deeply. Remember, 10 minutes a day!
Self-control is a struggle for everyone. Chan pointed out how often people blame the Holy Spirit for not doing something. In essence, we blame the Holy Spirit for our lack of effort. I wonder what God must think when we ask him to take something away or to take action on something and then we get mad when we don’t see a result. I feel like God is saying, You are asking me to do this, but what are you doing?? Where is your effort in this? OUCH!!! I can think of some times in my life when I have prayed and asked the Holy Spirit for something and then go “Okay, God I’m asking and you are not doing anything.” I can see Him looking at me saying, “Ashley, what are YOU doing? I’m here and I’m willing, but what are you willing to do?” This one may have been the one that hurt the most. I don’t want to blame the Holy Spirit for my lack of effort. Faith is not one sided. God is not a genie in a bottle where we rub the magic lamp and are granted 3 wishes. It is a relationship that requires effort on our part.
Chan continued with being steadfast, not giving up. Sometimes, I want to give up, but God calls me to persevere and to be steadfast. He is walking alongside me the whole way. It is so comforting knowing He is always there no matter what. I loved when Chan talked about Godliness. He talked about worship in conjunction with Godliness. The question I posed to my small group tonight was are you a person of worship? I think we can get caught up in thinking worship is singing songs at church. Worship is so much more than that, it is a lifestyle. Worship is an expression of your heart through a lifestyle of holiness. Worship expresses how we view God and where he is on our list of priorities. I want to be a woman of worship. I want my life to scream worship and that when people look at me, they see Jesus! I worship God for who He is and because He loved me first. Worship is my response to His love for me.
God guarantees us that if we work on these character qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:5, we will not be ineffective or unfruitful. If we pursue these things, we will not waste our lives. Often times we get so nearsighted, focusing on what is right in front of us. We tend to focus only on what can see. We need to be looking to the things that are unseen. Everything we see is transient and temporary. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be so nearsighted that I become blind. I want to cultivate these character qualities in my life so I can lead the fruitful and effective life God intends for me to live. Three words that have been rocking my world since last night…..MAKE EVERY EFFORT! May these words and this passage of scripture be fuel for my fire. I don’t want to look back on my life only to realize I did not make every effort to develop virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, Godliness, brotherly affection and love. I am a partaker of the Divine Nature, which is so stinking cool! I don’t want to waste my one and only life looking at what is temporary. Like Elisha, in 2 Kings 6, I am praying God open my eyes to the unseen. My challenge to small group and now my challenge to all who read this is to Make Every Effort. I pray for you too that God will open your eyes to see the unseen!
Radiant Hope 