Live unoffended

“You can give up or hang on.  You can let go or pray through.  You can get frustrated with God or choose to live unoffended.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 8 (“Persistence Quotient”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson note various studies show that persistence quotient is strongly correlated with success.  There is no substitute for persistence in achieving mastery.

Pastor Batterson believes prayer is no different.  Prayer is a habit to be cultivated, a discipline to be developed, a skill to be practiced.  The problem is most of us give up praying because our eyes can see no tangible difference in our circumstances.  Giving up allows our circumstances to get between God and us.  Instead, we need to put God between us and our circumstances.

Mark describes how easy it is to throw in the towel:

“It’s easy to give up on dreams, give up on miracles, give up on promises.  We lose heart, lose patience, lose faith.  And like a slow leak, it often happens without us even knowing it until our prayer life gets a flat.”

When you’re tempted to throw in the prayer towel, there is one biblical promise Pastor Batterson suggests will sustain you- Luke 7:23 (ESV): “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”  That’s an important promise during times of waiting, especially when we feel God is answering everyone else’s prayer but ours.  Mark says that’s where most of us live most of the time- in the triple-dot punctuation known as an ellipsis (“Yet in our own lives, well . . .).  That’s when we need to make the choice to live unoffended.

Today’s question: What has helped you to cultivate the habit and develop the discipline of prayer?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “If God had a refrigerator”

 

Live unoffended

Praying through

“Praying hard is praying through.  And if you pray through, God will come through.  But it will be God’s will, God’s way.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson moves on by introducing “The Second Circle- Pray Hard.”  This second circle covers Chapters 8-11 of The Circle Maker.  Pastor Batterson cites the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18: 1-5) as an example of what it means to pray hard.  Mark then offers his definition of praying hard:

“Praying hard is more than words; it’s blood, sweat, and tears.  Praying hard is two-dimensional: praying like it depends on God, and working like it depends on you.  It’s praying until God answers, no matter how long it takes.  It’s doing whatever it takes to show God you’re serious.”

Desperate time, Mark notes, call for desperate measures.  And the most desperate act is praying hard.  It’s holy desperation.  Pastor Batterson believes the persistent widow is the gold standard for praying hard.  The judge knew there was no quit in the widow.  Mark asks: “Does The Judge know that about you?

Mark asserts that the viability of our prayers has less to do with vocabulary and more to do with intensity.  He writes that the Holy Spirit is our model:

“Long before you woke up this morning and long after you go to sleep tonight, the Spirit of God was circling you with songs of deliverance.  He has been circling you since the day you were conceived. . . . Those unutterable intercessions should fill you with an unspeakable confidence.  God isn’t for you in some passive sense; God is for you in the most active sense imaginable.”

Today’s question: What Bible verses sustain you in praying hard and praying through?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Live unoffended”

 

Praying through

God qualifies the called

“But God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 7 of The Circle Maker, he defines a big dream as something beyond your human ability to accomplish.  This means it is perfectly natural that there will be moments when you doubt yourself, as Mark describes:

“If you’ve never had a God-sized dream that scared you half to death, then you haven’t really come to life.  If you’ve never been overwhelmed by the impossibility of your plans, then you God is too small.  If your vision isn’t perplexingly impossible, then you need to expand the radiuses of your prayer circles.”

To dream big, Pastor Batterson adds, you have to manage the emotional tension.  A big dream is simultaneously the best and worst feeling in the world.  It’s exhilarating and at the same time frightening because it’s beyond your ability.  That’s when you need to remind yourself that God is bigger than your dream.

Sometimes the power of prayer gives you the strength to walk through your circumstances and carry on.  Even though your circumstances haven’t changed, the burden is taken off your shoulders and put on Christ’s.  God will deliver in His time.  Mark states what happens when you pray circles around a dream that’s too big for you:

“If you keep circling it in prayer, God will get bigger and bigger until you see your impossible prayer for what it really is: an easy answer for an almighty God.”

Today’s question: What big dream(s) do you have?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “If God had a refrigerator”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Praying hard”

 

God qualifies the called

The size of our God

“The size of prayers depends on the size of our God.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 7 (“The Solution to Ten Thousand Problems”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson states the answer to the question will determine the size of your prayer circles: “Is the Lord’s arm too short (Numbers 11:23)?”  Or, as the Good News Translation phrases it: “Is there a limit to my power?”

The obvious answer to that question, Pastor Batterson notes, is no.  We know God is omnipotent and there is nothing He cannot do.  But many of us pray as if our problems are bigger than God.  The modern mystic, A. W. Tozer, once contrasted a low view and a high view of God:

“The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils among us. . . . The decline of the knowledge of the holy has brought on our troubles.  A rediscovery of the majesty of God will go a long way toward curing them.”

Mark encourages us to keep a godly perspective on our problems by answering this question: Are your problems bigger than God, or is God bigger than your problems?  While we think in terms of big or small, easy or difficult, possible or impossible, God is not subject to the natural laws He instituted.  He is the Alpha and Omega.  There are no degrees of difficulty.  Mark summarizes the issue:

“With God it’s never an issue of ‘Can He?’  It’s only a question of ‘Will He?’  And while you don’t always know if He will, you know He can.  And because you know He can, you can pray with holy confidence.”

Today’s question: How would you describe the size of your prayers?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “God qualifies the called”

 

The size of our God

Predictably unpredictable

“I have come to expect the unexpected because God is predictably unpredictable.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 6 of The Circle Maker by reflecting on a favorite saying of his grandmother: You can’t never always sometimes tell.  Translation: “Anything could happen.”  The same is true when you circle a promise in prayer.  Prayer adds an element of surprise to your life that is more fun than any other kind of surprise.  Mark explains:

“When you draw a prayer circle, even if that circle is limited by your ignorance, you never know how or when or where God will answer it.  One prayer leads to another, which leads to another, and where they will take you no one knows except the One who knows all.”

Pastor Batterson notes there is one caveat: you have to give up control if you want God to surprise you.  Although you’ll lose a measure of predictability, this frees God to move in uncontrollable ways.  Meanwhile, you live with holy anticipation, understanding that coincidences are providences and that any moment can turn into a holy moment.  Mark observes it is at this point many of us become spiritually bogged down:

“It’s at this place where God wants to do something unprecedented that many of us get stuck spiritually.  Instead of operating by faith, we switch back to our default setting of logic.  Instead of embracing the new move of God, we fall back into the rut of our old routines.”

Mark’s solution?: don’t simply brainstorm, praystorm

Today’s question: How difficult is it for you to give up “control” of your situation?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The size of our God”

Predictably unpredictable

Lessons about unanswered prayers

In Chapter 6 (“You Can’t Never Always Sometimes Tell”) of The Circle Maker,  Mark Batterson discusses valuable lessons about unanswered prayers that he has learned.  The learning began when Pastor Batterson almost said no to a miracle.

A married couple, new members of National Community Church, wanted to talk to Mark about church government.  Pastor Batterson was reluctant because he had little margin in his schedule.  After ninety minutes of questions, Mark finally was able to passionately share his vision for NCC.  The couple said they wanted to invest, but gave no dollar amount.

During a phone call appointment a few weeks later, they pledged $3 million dollars because Mark had vision beyond his resources.  Several years earlier, however, when Mark had tried to manufacture a miracle, that human effort resulted in personal financial loss.  As Mark states, “When God doesn’t answer our prayer right away, we try to answer it for Him.”

Pastor Batterson then shares three valuable lessons about unanswered prayer:

1.  Our prayers are often misguided simply because we’re not omniscient.  If we were absolutely honest with ourselves, we’d have to admit the main objective of most of our prayers is personal comfort, not God’s glory.  Such prayers actually would short-circuit God’s purposes in our lives.

2.  No doesn’t always mean no; sometimes it means not yet.  Our deadline may not fit God’s timeline.  Maybe “no” simply is a divine delay.

3.  We shouldn’t seek answers a much as we should seek God.  Once we’ve prayed through, we need to let go and let God.  God will answer when we’re ready for it.

Today’s question: Which of Mark’s three valuable lessons about unanswered prayers resonate most with you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Predictably unpredictable”

 

Lessons about unanswered prayers

Arguments with God

“Here is what I learned about arguments with God: If you win the argument you actually lose, and if you lose the argument you actually win.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson continues Chapter 5 of The Circle Maker by conceding that circling the promises of God often seems risky.  However, he adds, circling the promises of God isn’t nearly as risky as not circling God’s promises.  We forfeit the miracles God wants to perform when we don’t circle His promises.

When we live in obedience to God, we place ourselves in position to receive God’s blessing.  This happened to the Israelites when they were parked in the Desert of Paran, a region fifty miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea and fifty miles southwest of the Dead Sea.  Quail usually live by the water and don’t fly long distances.  But a supernatural wind blew them into the Israelites’ camp.

Quail covered an area ten times the size of Washington, DC, and were piled three feet deep!  All this happened because Moses took the risk and circled God’s promise.  Mark explains that when you circle God’s promise, you never know how He will provide:

“Your job is not to crunch numbers and make sure the will of God adds up.  After all, the will of God is not a zero-sum game.  When God enters the equation, His output always exceeds your input.  Your only job is to draw circles in the sand.  And if you do the geometry, God will multiply the miracles in your life.”

Today’s question: Describe a specific situation involving your arguments with God.  What was the outcome?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Lessons about unanswered prayers”

 

Arguments with God

Faith is whispering yes

“Logic is screaming no; faith is whispering yes.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 5 (“Cloudy with a Chance of Quail”) of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson sates that drawing prayer circles often looks “like an exercise in foolishness.”  Exercising faith involves the willingness to look foolish.  This is directly proportional to the size of the circle you draw.

Pastor Batterson believes that you have to take a risk to experience a miracle- and rising your reputation is one of the most difficult risks to take.  But the moment will come when you need to make the call or make the move.  Failure to take the risk means forfeiting the miracle.

When God promised the Israelites meat for a month, Moses did the mental math- and the numbers didn’t add up.  Moses had to choose whether or not to circle God’s promise of meat.  This was a defining decision in Moses’ life.  Mark describes how defining decisions lead to defining moments:

“You are only one defining decision away from a totally different life.  One defining decision can change your trajectory and put you on a path toward the Promised Land. . . . And it’s those defining decisions that become the defining moments of our lives.”

By human calculation, God’s will never does add up.  Even though Moses found it inconceivable for God to keep His promise of quail, that isn’t our business.  That’s God’s business.  Our problem, Mark points out, is that “too often we let how get in the way of what God wants us to do.”  To experience awesome moments involves putting ourselves in “this is crazy” situations.

Faith is whispering yes.

Today’s question: When facing humanly impossible situations, does logic or faith dictate your response?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Arguments with God”

 

Faith is whispering yes

Dream big

Following Chapter 4, Mark Batterson describes the first of three prayer circles- dream big.  This topic will be discussed in detail in Chapters 5-7 of The Circle Maker.

Pastor Batterson notes that Honi the circle maker was mesmerized by one phrases in one verse of Scripture: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed (Psalm 126:1).”  At some point in the aging process, however, most people stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory.  Mark explains:

“Instead of creating the future, we start repeating the past.  Instead of living by faith, we live by logic.  Instead of going after our dreams, we stop circling Jericho.”

Mark adds that even though imagination is the road less taken, it is the pathway of prayer.  Imagination and prayer are in direct proportion to each other.  The more you pray the greater your imagination.  And you’re never too young or too old to pursue the dreams God has put in your heart.

Pastor Batterson believes it is a subtle form of idolatry to settle for small dreams we can accomplish without God’s help.  Big dreams are an entirely different matter:

“”Nothing honors God more than a big dream that is way beyond our ability to accomplish.  Why?  Because there is no way we can take credit for it. . . . Drawing prayer circles around our dreams isn’t just a mechanism whereby we accomplish great things for God; it’s a mechanism whereby God accomplishes great things in us.”

Today’s question: Are you currently living out of imagination or memory?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Faith is whispering yes”

 

 

Dream big

Praise through

“After you pray through, you need to praise through.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 14 of The Circle Maker with the bold statement that we should praise God for disappointment because it drives us to our knees in prayer.  Responding to disappointment in a God-pleasing way can restore our prayer rhythm and resurrect our desires.

Such faith can seem like a denial or reality.  Pastor Batterson states the reason is the reality we are holding onto by praying through is more real than the reality we perceive with our senses.  However, Mark writes, when you have prayed through the next step is to praise through:

“True faith doesn’t just celebrate ex post facto, after the miracle has already happened; true faith celebrates before the miracle happens, as if the miracle has already happened, because you know that God is going to deliver on His promise.”

Mark explains that prayer is asking God to do something, future tense, while praise is believing God already has performed the miracle, past tense.  It is important to emphasize that this isn’t a “name it, claim it” scheme.  The sole purpose God does miracles is to spell His glory.

Although it is most difficult to praise God when He doesn’t answer the way we want, that’s when our praise is most pure and pleasing to God.

Today’s question: Describe a time when you made a deliberate choice to praise through a situation.  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Dream big”

 

Praise through

Praying for versus praying through

“Our generation desperately needs to rediscover the difference between praying for and praying through.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 4 (“Praying Through”) of The Circle Maker with a discussion of a branch of history called counterfactual theory.  Pastor Batterson notes that counterfactual theorists ask (1) what if questions and (2) what are key footnotes that might have changed the course of history.

In the grand scheme of God’s story, prayer is the footnote behind every headline.  Mark emphasizes that if we focus on the footnotes, God will write the headlines.  For this to happen, however, we cannot quit circling.  We must pray through the situation, grabbing the horns of the altar and refusing to let go until God answers.

Mark states that praying through:

1.  is all about consistency- like the widow’s relentless requests to the judge (Luke 18: 1-5)

2.  won’t take no for an answer- you’re always one prayer away from a miracle

3.  is all about intensity- it’s not quantitative, it’s qualitative

4.  touches the heart of your heavenly Father- it doesn’t just bend God’s ear

Pastor Batterson states God wants to take us to the higher heights and the deeper depths of prayer.  But we can’t do the same old thing if we want God to do something new in our life:

“It will involve more sacrifice, but if you are willing to go there, you’ll realize you didn’t sacrifice anything at all.  It will involve more risk, but if you’re willing to go there, you’ll realize you didn’t risk anything at all.  Make the sacrifice.  Take the risk.  Draw the circle.”

Today’s question: Describe a time in your life that involved praying through a situation?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Praise through”

Praying for versus praying through

Nuanced prayers

“Nuanced prayers give God an opportunity to reveal more shades of His sovereignty.”- Mark Batterson

In Chapter 3 of The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson writes that there is a direct correlation between the strength of your faith and the specificity of your prayers.  Spelling out your prayers with specificity eventually will spell God’s glory.

Pastor Batterson defines success in terms of God-0rdained goals and eternal priorities.  However, the author observes, very few people actually have spelled out this success for themselves.  Instead, they rely on family or cultural definitions of success.  Mark offers a definition of success specific to any and every situation:

Do the best you can with what you have where you are.  Success is not circumstantial, rooted in what we’re doing or where we’re going.  God’s overarching concern is who we’re becoming in the process.  God’s will is about being the right person, even in the midst of the wrong circumstances.  Success is stewardship of your resources and God-given talents that maximizes glorifying God in all situations.

Max summarizes the process:

“You need to circle the goals God wants you to go after, the promises God wants you to claim, and the dreams God wants you to pursue.  And once you spell Jericho, you need to circle it in prayer.  Then you need to keep circling until the walls come tumbling down.”

Today’s question: How does your definition of success compare with Mark Batterson’s?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: Praying for versus praying through”

Nuanced prayers

Define your dream

“Define your dream.  Claim your promise.  Spell your miracle.”- Mark Batterson

As Mark Batterson continues Chapter 3 of The Circle Maker, he references Matthew’s account of “Jesus Heals Two Blind Men” (Matthew 20:29-34).   When two blind men sitting on the roadside outside of Jericho hailed Jesus, the disciples saw it as human interruption.  Jesus, however, viewed it as a divine appointment.

The key to Jesus’ encounter with the two blind men is the pointed question Jesus asked them: “What do you want me to do for you?”  Mark states Jesus was forcing the men to define precisely what they wanted from Him- to verbalize their desire.  That is where drawing prayer circles begins.  You have to know what to circle.

What, Pastor Batterson wonders, if Jesus were to ask you that exact question: What do you want me to do for you?  Could you define your dream?  Mark describes the crux of the problem: “So while God is for us, most of us have no idea what we want God to do for us.”

The answer to Jesus’ question changes over time.  Different seasons of life require different miracles.  Rather than simply reading the Bible, Mark emphasizes that we need to start circling the promises.  Rather than compiling a wish list, compose a list of God-glorifying life goals.

Today’s question: What concrete steps do you need to take to define your dream?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Nuanced prayers”

Define your dream

No longer a slave

“So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”- Galatians 4:7 (ESV)

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror.  I can take the next thing that comes along.” “- Eleanor Roosevelt

Rising 264 feet above the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, George Washington Gale Ferris’ wheel was the “landmark of the fair.”  Ferris, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh bridge builder, designed his wheel to rotate on a 71-ton, 45.5 foot axle supported by two 140-foot steel towers.  The wheel had 36 ‘boxes’, each the size of train cars.  Each car had 40 revolving chairs and a capacity of 60.  As many as 38,000 passengers a day paid 50 cents to ride the first Ferris wheel.  A Chicago Daily Tribune article from June 22, 1893 described the experience:

“In thirty minutes two revolutions of the wheel had been completed and the first carloads were ready to step out again on the ‘too, too solid earth.’ ”

Even though the towers supporting the Ferris Wheel were anchored in thirty feet of concrete, passengers remained apprehensive because control was in the hands of the wheel operator.  Perhaps they clutched a revolving chair armrest or a standing rider for stability.  Max Lucado points out that, at its core, fear is a perceived loss of control.  When life spins aimlessly or uncontrollably, we desperately cling to a component of life we can manage.  Max describes a specific form of spiritual amnesia:

“Destructive anxiety subtracts God from the future, faces uncertainties with no faith, tallies up the challenges of the day without entering God into the equation.  Worry is the darkroom where negatives become glossy prints.”

You’ve been knocked down by your vocation loss.  But you are a survivor!  Like Joseph during his imprisonment in Egypt, your anchor is a deep-seated, stabilizing belief in the sovereignty of God.  You can bounce back with God’s help.  Let go of what has been and embrace the new thing God offers.  God is present in your crisis.  Keep calm and carry on.  You’re no longer a slave to fear; you are a child of God.  Max Lucado offers this faith-sustaining insight:

“You re embedded with the presence of God.  Don’t measure your life by your ability; measure it by God’s.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxkNj5hcy5E

 

 

 

 

No longer a slave

Identifying your Jericho

“Drawing prayer circles begins with identifying your Jericho.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson begins Chapter 3 (“The Jericho Miracle”) of The Circle Maker by stating that prayer is something people instinctively do when facing a challenge far beyond their ability.  Pastor Batterson has no doubt the Israelites were praying as they silently circled Jericho.

Even though God had promised something impossible and had a nonsensical battle plan (from a human perspective), Jericho stands- and falls- as a testimony to the simple truth that if you keep circling the promise, ultimately God will deliver on it.

The miracle at Jericho, Mark encourages, challenges us to confidently  circle the promises God has given to us.  The first step, then, to drawing prayer circles begins with identifying your Jericho:

“You’ve got to define the promises God wants you to stake claim to, the miracles God wants you to believe for, and the dreams God wants you to pursue.  Then you need to keep circling until God gives you what He wants and He wills.  That’s the goal.”

The problem is, Pastor Batterson notes, that most of us don’t get what we want for the simple reason that we don’t know what we want.  As Mark writes: “Instead of drawing circles, we draw blanks.”

That is why identifying your Jericho is essential!

Today’s question: Has your ministry downsizing or vocation loss led you to reassess identifying your Jericho?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog:  the new Short Meditation, “No longer a slave”

 

Identifying your Jericho

Bold prayers

“Bold prayers honor God, and God honors bold prayers.”- Mark Batterson

Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D. C., wrote The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears in 2011.  Max draws and shares powerful insights from the true legend of Honi the circle maker.  Honi, a first-century BC Jewish sage, stood inside the circle he had drawn and boldly, yet humbly, prayed for God to end a year-long drought.  Rain fell and a generation was saved.

God, Pastor Batterson underscores, still is looking for circle makers.  Bold prayers require divine intervention.  Mark writes that the bigger the circle we draw the better, because God gets the glory:

“The great moments in life are the miraculous moments when human impotence and divine omnipotence intersect- and they intersect when we draw a circle around the impossible situations in our lives and invite God to intervene.”

Mark emphasizes it is absolutely imperative to come to terms with this simple but life-changing truth: “God is for you.”  Failure to believe this truth results in timid prayer.  Believing this truth means you will pray audacious prayers.  Either way, Mark states, “who you become is determined by how you pray.”  Pastor Batterson also clearly defines what drawing prayer circles is and is not:

“Drawing prayer circles isn’t some sort of magic trick to get what you want from God.  God is not a genie in a bottle, and your wish is not His command.  His command better be your wish.  If it’s not, you won’t be drawing prayer circles, you’ll end up walking in circles. . . . getting what you want isn’t the goal; the goal is glorifying God by drawing circles around the promises, miracles, and dreams He wants for you.”

Today’s question; Do you pray timid or bold prayers?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Identifying your Jericho”

Bold prayers

God fights for you

“God Fights for You” is the concluding chapter (16) of Glory Days.  Max Lucado describes how Joshua was in dire need of God’s protection as the children of Israel ventured into the Promised Land.  Brutal and bloodthirsty enemies inhabited Canaan.  Joshua’s men were untested in battle and his leadership was unproven.  Despite those odds, God guaranteed the conquest.

Pastor Lucado writes that God gives us the same promise.  The writer of Hebrews quotes the words of Joshua 1:15 in his epistle:

“For [God] has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we can say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?” “- Hebrews 13:5-6 (NRSV)

Max notes that the last question, by itself, is a troubling one. What can anyone do to me?  We know the answers- lie, deceive, downsize, etc.

Scripture, however, asks a different question, prefacing “What can man . . .” with the words “The Lord is your helper . . .”  The Greek word for “helper” in this passage, Max states, is boetheia, from boe (which means “a shout”) and theo (which means “to run”).  In other words, when you need help, God runs with a shout.  And God not only stays with you, he fights for you so you can live the Promised Land life.

Max concludes:

“This is your inheritance: more victory than defeat, more joy than sadness, more hope than despair.  These days are Glory Days.”

Today’s question:(from the study guide): In what ways is God already pulling you out of a wilderness and helping you cross over to your Promised Land life?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Back in the box”

Tomorrow’s blog: the Annotated Bibliography of Glory Days

 

God fights for you

No falling words

“No Falling Words” is the title of Chapter 15 of Glory Days.  Max Lucado states the theological heart of Joshua is: God keeps His word!  In Joshua 21:45 we read: “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel.  All came to pass.”

Yet, we live in a world of falling words- broken promises, empty vows, retracted pledges.  Words, however, then to tumble.  Max describes such words as “autumn leaves in November’s wind.”  Promised Land people believe God’s promises and choose faith, as Pastor Lucado explains:

“And Promised Land people risk the choice.  When forced to stand at the crossroads of belief and unbelief, they choose belief.  They place one determined step after the other on a pathway of faith.  Seldom with a skip, usually with a limp.  They make a conscious decision to step toward God, to lean into hope, to heed the call of heaven.  They press into the promises of God.”

When fears surface or when doubts arise, Max encourages you to press into God’s promises and respond with this thought: But God said . . . .  As God’s promises settle over you, you will choose the path of peace even though everything around you tempts you to panic.  Take hold of God’s promises.  They are no falling words.

Today’s question: How can you prepare yourself to stand firm and choose faith when hard times inevitably come?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “God fights for you”

No falling words

Your best thoughts

“Your best thoughts are God-thoughts.”- Max Lucado

“Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him. . . I will remember You from the land of Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, from the Hill Mizar.”- Psalm 42:5-6 (NKJV)

Max Lucado concludes Chapter 14 of Glory Days by emphasizing that we, like the psalmist, must make a deliberate decision to treat out downcast soul with thoughts of God.  Pastor Lucado acknowledges the difficulty of doing so. Ultimately, blessing comes from perseverance:

” Troubles pounce on us like rain in a thunderstorm.  Finding God amid the billows will demand every bit of discipline you can muster.  But the result is worth the strain.  Besides, do you really want to meditate on your misery?  Will reciting your problems turn you into a better person?  No.  But changing your mind-set will.”

Caleb could have cursed God because he had to put his dreams on hold for over four decades.  Still, he didn’t complain or become crabby.  He stepped forward with a (1) God-drenched mind to receive his inheritance.  Max offers two additional ways to face your problems:

2.  Turn a deaf ear to doubters.  Ignore naysayers and pessimists.  Pastor Lucado quips: “Just because someone sings the blues, you don’t have to join the chorus.”

3.  Set your mind on a holy cause.  Max suggests the following assessment: How high is your calling?  Perhaps your problems feel so great because your cause is too small.  Max concludes:

“Once you find your mountain, no giant will stop you, no age will disqualify you, no problems will defeat you. . . . You have a different spirit.  You are a Promised Land person.”

Today’s question (from the study guide): On a scale of one to ten, with one being low and ten being high, how immersed are you in God-thoughts?  What can you do today to increase that rating?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “No falling words”

Your best thoughts

The God- drenched mind

“The God- Drenched Mind” is the title of Chapter 14 of Glory Days.  Max Lucado begins by debunking any wishful thoughts of a problem-free life.  Max quips that it is not likely, albeit faintly possible, that pigs might fly or that men might surrender the remote control.  However, you shouldn’t hold your breath in expectation of “a problem-free, no-hassle, blue-sky existence.”

Pastor Lucado explains that although all people have problems, not all people see problems the same way:

“Some people are overcome by problems.  Others overcome problems.  Some people are left bitter.  Others are left better.  Some people face their challenges with fear.  Others with faith.”

The story of Caleb (Joshua 14:6-15) stands out because Caleb’s faith stood out.

The words The Lord appear nine times in Caleb’s talk with Joshua at the end of the military campaign.  Caleb centered his mind on the Lord.  Max asks us to consider what emphasis a transcript of our thoughts would reveal- the Lord, the problem, the jerk?

Promised Land people don’t naively deny the presence of problems.  Like Caleb, they immerse their minds in God- thoughts.  Max summarizes:

“If you marinate you mind in your problems, they will eventually corrode and corrupt your thoughts.  But thoughts of God will preserve and refresh your attitudes.”

In other words, you need to develop or strengthen your God- drenched mind.

Today’s question (from the study guide): How might making the Lord the constant theme of your thoughts change the way you see those people, circumstances, or events that distract you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Your best thoughts”

 

The God- drenched mind

God"s definition of promotion

“I have come to see God’s definition of promotion: a promotion is not a move up the ladder; it is a move toward your call.”- Max Lucado

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given,, and then sink yourself into that.”- Galatians 6:4 (The Message)

As Max Lucado concludes Chapter 13 of Glory Days, he contrasts our inheritance and our assignments.  He states that while our inheritance is grace-based and equal, our assignments are tailor-made.  No two fingerprints are the same, nor are two skill sets the same.  Pastor Lucado notes how to define your skill set:

“Your skill set is your road map.  It leads you to your territory.  Take note of your strengths.  They are bread crumbs that will lead you out of the wilderness.  God loves you too much to give you a job and not the skills.  Identify yours.”

When you compare and compete, Max writes, nothing good happens.  God measures faithfulness by how faithful you are with your own gifts.  Max explains: “You are not responsible for the nature of your gift.  But you are responsible for how you use it.”

The devil is determined to linger in your territory, tempting you with thoughts of greed, power, or jealousy.  Drive him out and possess your land so you can receive what God so graciously gives you.

Today’s question (from the study guide): Imagine how those who love and appreciate you would describe your gifts.  What would they say is your strongest gift?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The God-drenched mind”

 

God"s definition of promotion

The measure of Christ"s gift

“But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore it says, ‘When he ascended on high, he had a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.’ ” -Ephesians 4:7-8

“Your existence is not accidental.  Your skills are not incidental.”- Max Lucado

In Chapter 13 (“You Be You”) of Glory Days, Max Lucado encourages you that no one else in all recorded time has your unique history, your “you-ness”:

“You are heaven’s first and final attempt at you.  You are matchless, unprecedented, and unequaled.  Consequently, you can do something no one else can do in a fashion no one else can do.”

Obviously, Pastor Lucado notes, you aren’t the only person with your skill.  However, you are the only person with your version of your skill.  The corner of Promised Land Avenue and Glory Days Boulevard represents the intersection of your skill and God’s call.

Unfortunately, Max sadly observes, many people stop short of God’s unique plan and settle for someone else’s story.  They fit in, settle in, and blend in to their chosen existence, never finding their call.  Yet, Max emphasizes that uniqueness is a big message in the Bible and a huge message in the book of Joshua.  Pastor Lucado argues that the majority of Joshua’s chapters advance one command: know your territory and possess it.

In the apostle Paul’s day, a conquering monarch usually returned to his palace with prisoners and treasures in tow.  The king then celebrated his conquest by giving gifts to his people.  Most importantly, when Christ ascended to heaven, He gave gifts to His people.

Today’s question (from the study guide): What God-given abilities do you have that you could develop, apply, and use for the good of others? Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog:”God’s definition of promotion”

The measure of Christ"s gift

God and prayer

Max Lucado concludes Chapter 12 of Glory Days with the observation that, like Greg Pruett, God and prayer are all you have left as well.  Like Joshua, you are facing battle and five kings are bearing down upon you:

“Discouragement, deception, defeat, destruction, death.  They roar into your world like a Hells Angels motorcycle gang.  Their goal is to chase you back into the wilderness.  Don’t give an inch.  Respond in prayer- honest, continual, and audacious prayer.”

As a member of God’s family, you come to God as an heir, not a stranger.  You can approach His throne with confidence.  Paul writes in his epistle to the Philippians:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 4:6-7

Pastor Lucado emphasizes that the work of Satan must stop when the authority of Christ is proclaimed.  Max adds that “any demonic tongue must mute itself at the presence of truth”- including any force seeking to drive you out of the Promised Land.  It is a battle that we do not fight in vain.  God and prayer are all you need.

Today’s question (from the study guide): Do you find it difficult to bring some things to God?  What holds you back?  How can you find the boldness needed to bring your decisions to God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The measure of Christ’s gift”

 

 

God and prayer

Make prayer the strategy

” . . . I began to learn not to pray about any strategy, but to make prayer the strategy.”- Greg Pruett, President of Pioneer Bible Translators

Max Lucado continues Chapter 12 of Glory Days by reminding us that, in order to outwit the devil’s deceit, we must consult God in everything and . . .

2.  Call on God for great things.  Because Joshua made an alliance with the Gibeonites, five other Canaanite kings saw the Gibeonites as traitors and attacked with their armies.  Having marched all night from Gilgal, Joshua counterattacked the five kings.  Although the five armies quickly retreated, Joshua knew he needed more time to achieve victory.  So Joshua asked God to stop the sun (Joshua 10:13).  The next verse records God’s response:

“There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.”- Joshua 10:14

The Lord chose to hear and heed Joshua’s request.  Max’s friend, Greg Pruett, experienced God’s answer to prayer after he was asked to assume the presidency of Pioneer Bible Translators in 2008.  That year a great recession was sucking dollars out of the economy, and this trickled down to that ministry in the form of fewer resources and donors.  Greg knew only one way to respond- prayer.

By the end of the fiscal year, God had provided- although there was no tangible explanation for God’s provision.  All Greg had was God and prayer.

Today’s question: How would you respond to Greg’s comment about prayer?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “God and prayer”

 

Make prayer the strategy

The throne of grace

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.”- Hebrews 4:16

As Max Lucado begins Chapter 12 (“Pray Audacious Prayers”) of Glory Days, he notes two occasions when Martin Luther boldly approached the throne of grace for the healing of (1) a coworker as well as (2) his good friend Frederick Myconius.  Yet, Pastor Lucado notes, for may people boldness in prayer is an uncomfortable thought.

Joshua’s prayer life, Max adds, teaches us what happens when we don’t pray as much as it tells us how to pray.  Following the gathering at Shechem, a group of men presenting themselves as hapless strangers from a distant place entered Joshua’s camp.  Joshua and the elders didn’t detect the ruse because they didn’t seek the counsel of the Lord (Joshua 9:14).  Standard Hebrew practice was to pray first, ask later.

Max states it is important for us to learn from Joshua’s mistake.  This requires two essential actions on our part.

1.  Consult God in everything.  We need to do this consistently and immediately.  At every decision and crossroads we must acknowledge and heed Him.  If we regularly consult Him, God will disclose Satan’s craftiness by giving us enough light to take the next step.  Max concludes: “Glory Days are such because we learn to hear God’s voice telling us to turn this way or that way.”

Today’s question (from the study guide): Do you know someone who prays boldly?  Why do you think that person can pray so boldly?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Make prayer the strategy”

The throne of grace

Voices, choices, and consequences

“Life comes with voices.  Voices lead to choices.  Choices lead to consequences.”- Max Lucado

“Obedience is the key to all doors.”- C. S. Lewis (Yours, Jack: Spiritual Direction from C. S. Lewis)

Max Lucado begins Chapter 11 (“Voices, Choices, and Consequences”) of Glory Days by discussing the Israelites’ pilgrimage to the Valley of Shechem following Joshua’s decisive victory at Ai.  Once they reached the valley, Joshua set about the task of building an altar to the Lord.

Unlike the custom of ancient Near Eastern kings to commemorate their military achievements by writing about their conquests on huge stones covered with plaster, Joshua celebrated God’s law.  The key to the Israelites’ successful military campaign wasn’t the strength of their army but their resolve to keep God’s commandments.

Pastor Lucado reminds us that this assembly in the Valley of Shechem took place in the midst of an invasion, smack-dab in the middle of enemy territory.  Max comments that they pressed the Pause button on their physical battle in order to fight a spiritual one:

“Heeding God’s Word is more critical than fighting God’s war.  Indeed, heeding God’s Word is fighting God’s war.  Conquest happens as covenant is honored.”

The voices of life await us.  While we can’t eliminate their presence, we can prepare for their invitation.  We have been bought with a price and are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  Resist the devil, and he will flee (James 4:7).  Max concludes:

“Choose obedience.  And as you do, you can expect . . . the blessing of God’s favor.  This is no guarantee of an easy life.  It is the assurance of God’s help.”

Today’s question (from the study guide): What voices do you listen to most often?  Are you drawn to the loudest voices?  Or the most persistent?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “The throne of grace”

 

 

 

Voices, choices, and consequences

Back in the box

Lionel standard gauge New York Central Observation Car #86; hand-painted figures of man, woman, and red cap, circa 1927.

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world.”- 1 Timothy 6:6-7

“Contentment does not come when we acquire enough.  It is a product of the way we think.”- John Ortberg

On the occasional fall/winter Sunday afternoon the Henning family was home, one of my dad William’s favorite father-son activities was setting up and running his 1927 Lionel standard gauge train set.  This was a labor-intensive operation.  Three large boxes were lugged down from our unheated attic.  Then all cars, tracks, and accoutrements were freed from their newspaper cocoons.  After the newspaper skins were returned to their boxes, assembly began.

Dad had a model track layout that took up the entire living room and extended into the dining area.  Dad and I would alternate running the passenger and freight cars.  Before dinner could be served, the entire assembly was taken apart, rewrapped, and placed back in the box.

Years later, when dad had downsized from independent to assisted living at Harwood Place, he took five possessions with him: sofa, recliner, TV/entertainment center, kitchen table and chairs, and his beloved Lionel.  Dad’s love of trains replenished him after his routine work week as a chemist testing corrosion inhibitors and continued as a source of contentment as his world grew smaller.  But his eternal joy was nurtured through weekly Bible study and corporate worship.

Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) captured the essence of humanity’s lack of joy: “Men have succeeded in accumulating a greater mass of objects, but joy in the world has grown less.”  Similarly, John Ortberg observes that wise people build their lives around the eternal and squeeze in the temporary- not the other way around.  In other words, we need to decide what will last forever and what goes back in the box.

The material, emotional, and spiritual devastation of our ministry downsizing or vocation loss leaves a huge vacuum.  Kyle Idleman (The End of Me) reminds us God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- stands ready to fill that void:

“There is a deep void that used to be filled with whatever we lost.  That could be stuff or even relationships- none of which are bad in themselves.  But when it’s gone it leaves an aching cavity, and God is there to fill it up with himself.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zByzjJ4nvH8

 

Back in the box

No failure is fatal

“Failure is a form of quicksand.  Take immediate action or you’ll be sucked under.”- Max Lucado

In Chapter 10 (“No Failure is Fatal”) of Glory Days, Max Lucado writes that when we fail, we hear or presume the voices of others are spewing negativity or condemnation.  We join those voices of failure when we disqualify, berate, or upbraid ourselves.  When we do so, Max sadly observes, we sentence ourselves “to a life of hard labor in the Leavenworth of poor self-worth.”

People may not know how to address failure, but God does.  Max states the Bible is written for failures.  God used Joshua’s failure to conquer Ai in order to show us how to handle ours.  God quickly and urgently calls us to get on with life.  Unless we take immediate action, failure will suck us under.  God’s Promised Land offer depends on His perfection, not ours.

No one is immune from stumbling.  What differentiates people is their response.  Pastor Lucado explains:

“Some tumble into the pit of guilt.  Others tumble into the arms of God.”

Perhaps you’ve made some poor choices during the desert, land between time following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss.  Like the prodigal son, it is time to arise and go to your Father.  The apostle Paul wrote of his choice in Philippians 3:13-14 (Phillips): “I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal.”

Today’s question (from the study guide): Have your failures stuck with you?  To what degree have you felt trapped in the “Leavenworth of poor self-worth”?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “Back in the box”

 

 

No failure is fatal

Everything begins with faith

“Everything begins with faith.  The absence of it results in wilderness years.  The presence of it results in Promised Land living.”- Max Lucado

When Max Lucado’s three daughters were preschool-age, he played a bedtime game with them he called “Ladies and Gentlemen.”  Max would hold the girls upside down and swing them around, tossing them on the sofa or flipping them over the ottoman.  Never in all those flips and tosses did the girls question what Dad was doing.  They completely trusted him.

In Chapter 9 (“Don’t Trust Stuff”) of Glory Days, Pastor Lucado notes that while Joshua and most of the Israelites trusted God, a man named Achan did not.  Achan blatantly and deliberately violated God’s command that “everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury” (Joshua 6:19, NLT).  They were to completely trust God to meet their needs.  For reasons known only to Achan, he didn’t trust God’s wisdom or His ability to provide and protect.

As only Max can phrase it, Achan “saw the bling and forgot his king.”  In the Promised Land God has established, He is the sole source of blessing.  To the degree we trust God, Glory Days will happen.  Max asks:

“Whom do you trust?  God or King More?  King More . . . loses his value.  He goes out of style.  For all the promises he makes, he cannot keep a single one.  King More will break your heart.  But the King of kings?  He will catch you every single time.”

Today’s question (from the study guide): How has God provided for you in small ways that were still significant?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “No failure is fatal”

Everything begins with faith

Be steadfast, immovable

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”- 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV)

“Move from false premises to God’s promises.”- Max Lucado

Maxx Lucado concludes Chapter 8 of Glory Days by noting that the children of Israel used two instruments, the silver trumpet and the ram’s horn.  While the silver trumpet was used to call people to worship, the ram’s horn celebrated a battle already won.  At Jericho, God told Joshua to fill the air with the sound of ram’s horns.  Curiously, though, God told the people to be quiet.

Pastor Lucado states your battle with Satan is just as challenging.  No human effort to overcome your stronghold has worked.  You are ready to blast your ram’s horn:

“But now you come in God’s power with God center stage, Jesus in your heart, angels front and back.  You come, not with hope of a possible victory, but with assurance of complete victory.”

Satan has no choice but to retreat.  Your job is to keep praising and walking.  Max observes that although Joshua knew how many times the Israelites would circle Jericho, he didn’t tell the people.  For all you know, today may be the day your walls come tumbling down.  And the very walls that have kept you out will become the stepping stones onto which you will climb.  Your Jericho will come down.  It is just a matter of time.

Today’s question: How  can overcoming strongholds become a stepping stone toward facing another?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Back in the box”

Tomorrow’s blog: “Everything begins with faith”

Be steadfast, immovable