You Are An Original

Next time you are in Pennsylvania, make sure your travels take you past the intersection of 36th and Walnut. You won’t find a famous landmark and I don’t recommend the shopping but on most weekdays, in the middle of the street, what you will see is the incredible Officer Floyd Johnson. Officer Johnson is not your average traffic-directing cop. Instead, with cheerful call-outs and dynamic dance moves, Johnson directs traffic with a twist. He is an original.

God Is NOT Into Mass Production

You too are an original. One glance at the universe or across the church sanctuary and you will quickly see that God is not into mass production. He has not created ten million identical Kewpie Doll Christians to hang from the mirror of His throne. Our distinct features, our quirky personalities, our differing passions all show that “each of us is an original” Galatians 5:26.

Bring Glory to God

How does an original masterpiece bring glory to its artist? By hanging proudly in the front window and daring to shine. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, “…make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that” Galatians 6:4.

Dare to Be An Original

God calls us to glorify Him and to love others but we are to do it in through our distinctive design. “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” I Corinthians 12:7. Like Officer Johnson, your moves are unique and your contribution is special. In the Christian life, unity is essential, but uniformity is deadening. Dare to be an original and shine with the glory of your God.

The Unhurried Life

Minute rice, fast food, and instant messaging - what do these things have in common? Speed. It is our highest priority. More than exquisite workmanship, deep friendships, or even God, we value speed. America is in a hurry. We want what we want when we want it. After all, doesn’t doing more in less time just make sense?

But contrary to our expectations, rushing from bed, to table, to car, to work, and then home again is NOT getting us what we want. In fact, it is making us sick. Research by Dr. Brent Bost has recently identified a cluster of symptoms that arise from this frenetic lifestyle. These symptoms include fatigue, moodiness, weight gain and low sex drive. (Dr. Bost; McGraw-Hill; March 2005). Shockingly, approximately 50 million American women have at least one of the above.

Busyness is an American addiction fed daily by Satan’s lies.

• I can have it all.


• If I don’t do it, who will?


• More is better.


• Eight hours of sleep is optional.


• The one who dies with the most toys wins.

God says something entirely different:

It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

Did you catch that? It is vain to get up early. It is worthless to stay up late. Work yourself to death and it still won’t get you what you want. But if you trust the Lord, He will take care of all your needs even while you are sleeping. That is a powerful promise and one that America desperately needs to hear.

“Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met” (Matthew 6:33 MSG). When we believe God, the order of our priorities is suddenly reversed. God is our greatest treasure, deep relationships are essential, quality is important, and speed becomes almost irrelevant.

The research is in. When you live your life by God’s principles your energy is renewed, joy overflows, health is restored, and your passion returns. Choose the unhurried life and love the life you live.

Boundaries

“Sure, I’ll be happy to do it,” the words came out of my mouth even as my heart sank. I didn’t have time to do one more thing. I was barely keeping up with the two-hundred things I was already committed to doing. Sighing deeply, I turned away wondering once again, “Why do I do this to myself?”

Why do we live to please others? Like a chemical addiction, lowering our boundaries to please others offers a temporary high, but the crash quickly follows and leaves us craving even more. Living without boundaries is a bottomless pit.

Don’t be fooled. Making all others happy, all the time, may masquerade as servanthood but more likely it is that we need others to help us feel important. When people call our name, dial our number, depend on us, our self-esteem briefly soars, our outer persona is fed and our ego stroked. Yes, in the short run, people-pleasing gives us a rush but long-term it leaves our inner man starving for more.

The good news is this: you are important. God loves you more than you know. When you draw life and meaning from His love, you won’t have wrest it from others. God-pleasers need people less and love them more. Boundaries set the stage for a genuine, Christ-like love.

Recognize the Lie – Satan’s lie is this:

• I must please all other people all the time.


• It is important that people like me.


• It is my job to make others happy.

But God says, “The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that” Proverbs 29:25.

Renew Your Mind –

Why work hard for what you already have? You are important. You are loved. You are precious in God’s eyes. Feast on these truths, “…then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is” Ephesians 3:17-18.

Rehearse –

Saturate yourself with God’s love. Sing His precious truths again and again, “Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so.”

Drink deeply at the fountain of God’s love and leave refreshed to love others wisely and well.

Talk Back to Despair

I admit it. When I find myself home alone I am usually talking to myself. Blushing when overheard, I never-the-less continue. It is just so helpful. Talking to myself solves complex problems, sorts out confusing relationships, and lets off some much needed steam. It may be weird but it works.

Imagine my relief when I discovered that King David from ancient Israel was also a closet self-talker. In fact, this habit practically saved his life. David realized that we feel and act the way we do because of the thoughts we think and repeat. He knew that if left unchecked, discouraging thoughts soon become the background music of our lives, constantly chanting their message of despair:

• Things will never change.
• It is hopeless.
• Why bother?
• I can't take it anymore.

Hopelessness then fills our days and haunts our nights. Difficulty is inevitable, but discouragement doesn’t have to be. The dirge of despair hums: there is no God, He doesn’t care, and He won’t intervene. But nothing could be further from the truth.

There is a God. He does care, and as humans in the midst of this battle we call life, we need to remind ourselves of this continually. How? “(God’s) words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” John 6:63. Fight discouragement with God’s truth.

David fought despair by talking to himself. Eavesdrop with me, “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, For the help of His presence” Psalm 42:5. David answers Satan’s lie with God’s truth. He scolds, he fusses, and he fights for hope. He writes a new tune, “O soul, what are thinking? Have you forgotten there is a God and that He is in control? Trust in Him. His presence is all you need. He will satisfy. A new day is coming. Before you know it, you will again be singing His praises. Look to Him and hope.”

When discouragement threatens to become the background music of your mind, tune into God’s promises and smile.

Practice Does NOT Make Perfect

For months, Morgan has been trying to master the back flip. She toils, she sweats, she struggles, yet it still more of a flop than a flip. It is not for lack of effort. Weekly she is up at the gym, laboring for hours on end. Yet each new attempt ends in failure.

Morgan's coach stands faithfully by her side, encouraging her to get up and try again and again. She does. And she is getting better - at falling!

Last week a different coach came in. He watched her one time, and then suggested she do some things differently. Morgan adjusted her timing and changed her form as the coach helped her to feel each different movement. Then and only then did she practice - the correct form. Success will inevitably follow.

Practice does NOT make perfect. Many of us have been rehearsing, practicing, and living out the same damaging thoughts for decades. But these seeds of doubt, confusion, anger, guilt, and condemnation always blossom into the same discouraged, defeated lives.

If we keep thinking what we have always thought nothing will ever change. However, when we recognize Satan's lies, replace them with God's truths, and then rehearse - that is transformational.

The Great Physician prescribes two things when it comes renewing our minds:

Rehearse Often:

Throughout the history of Israel God made it clear that His truths, His glories, His powerful acts were to be repeated continually for maximum benefit.

Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts.
Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children.
Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street;
talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.
Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder;
inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (Msg.)

Rehearse Always:

Not only are we to rehearse God's truth often but always. God blesses ongoing obedience.

So the Lord will spell out his message for them again,
one line at a time, one line at a time,a little here, and a little there.
Isaiah 28:13

We all want the quick fix and instant healing. God can work in those ways but more often, He works through our faithful, daily, small obedience.

Commit today to recognizing, renewing, and rehearsing as an ongoing lifestyle. If you change your thinking, you will change your life.

Rehearse, believe, and be transformed!

Anxious? Fear Not!

Fear not? Are you crazy? Just read the headlines and your stomach starts to churn. War, famine, and abuse lurk without, and within we struggle with husbands, kids, bills and more. There is much to fear. God agrees. In John 16:33 Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulation..." and we do. Yet as children of the Living God, we are not to practice fear but to fight it with these three tools: recognizing the lie, renewing our minds, and rehearsing the truth.

Recognize the Lie - We worry because we forget about God. Worse than that, we worry when we begin to think that we are god, that somehow it all depends on us. And if it all depends on us, we had better stay awake all night, stressing, plotting, planning, and trying to work it out. It is clear we are drowning, but instead of calling the life guard, we just dog-paddle faster. But it won't work. If we don't know how to swim, we can't save ourselves. When the lie loudly blusters, "If it's going to be, it's up to me," fear follows.

Renew Our Minds - Relief comes when we let go of the false hope that we can fix it ourselves. God confidently proclaims, "Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you, with my victorious right hand" Isaiah 41:10. This truth is the life preserver we hold onto when the waters get rough.

Rehearse the Truth - Anxiety can be insidious, paralyzing, and overwhelming. God's promises are specific, empowering, and life-giving. His storehouse of resources is vast and offers reassurance for every need. Each time a fear arises, practice replacing it with God's truth. There is plenty to go around.

The very first command to "fear not" is found in the book of Genesis and God continues reassuring us until He states His final "fear not" in Revelation. From beginning to end, He has us covered. Wow. God knows that life is hard yet exhorts us to trust Him. Remember who your God is, cling to Him, and sail through the storm of life.