Our Only Secret Mission

When we talk about vision and purpose, what we're really talking about is obedience. Even when it doesn't make sense to us or seems to be the opposite of what we think we need to do. Of course, these situations never contradict Scripture, but follow it possibly in a way we never thought of before.

One time, years ago, the Lord led me to make bread. I desperately needed a job, but as I prayed, He really impressed on my heart to make bread and to write a little note of encouragement to the person for whom I was making the bread. I would pray for that person while I made the bread, write the note, and take it to them anonymously. I kept thinking I didn’t need to be spending extra money on bread-making supplies when I couldn’t find a job, but I had no doubt this was what God was telling me to do. So, that’s what I did. I felt kind of like God had given me a secret mission. 

The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:1-4, AMP, “Be [very] careful not to do your good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward [prepared and awaiting you] with your Father who is in heaven. “So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing [give in complete secrecy], so that your charitable acts will be done in secret; and your Father who sees [what is done] in secret will reward you.

Little did I know that He was using these simple acts of kindness and encouragement to compel others to do the same. Pretty soon, a small spirit of revival and renewal was breaking out in our congregation as we focused on praying for one another and encouraging one another. It was truly “A God Thing.”

In living our Christian life, we are exhorted, even commanded, to live our faith out in front of others. We cannot deny God before people. We must step up and take a stand in our faith. However, when it comes to being kind and doing acts of kindness, these are to be done for an audience of One, our Heavenly Father. Doing our good works to receive praise from others is not true kindness; it is “like actors acting out a role.” We begin performing rather than caring. We are focusing on ourselves rather than others. We are focusing on pleasing people rather than God. True, godly kindness is part of the fruit of the Spirit, and therefore, should exemplify the Spirit at work in our hearts and lives.

But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites. If we [claim to] live by the [Holy] Spirit, we must also walk by the Spirit [with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit]. (Galatians 5:22-24, AMP)

Godly kindness acts out of the motivation of love, finds joy in serving and blessing others, and promotes peace in the lives of those we bless. We are patient in acting kindly. Sometimes results of our actions take a long time to bear fruit. Sometimes we are merely planting tiny seeds or helping water what others have planted. What we do in acting kindly is good. It is not always easy or simple, but it is good for the situation and what God is wanting to accomplish. It is often actually quite difficult and uncomfortable, but it is always good. And we must be faithful to do exactly what God is telling us to do. Because we are sometimes called to do what is difficult, we must be sure to be gentle in how we approach people to help them. Often, they don’t trust our motives. We cannot be pushy or impatient, but gentle. In all of this, we must demonstrate self-control. We are not acting on our own desires and plans, but on God’s. We must show discipline and putting God first in our thoughts and actions.

Have you ever battled your own heart when helping others realizing you craved the praise and approval of people?

How do you feel when you do something to bless someone anonymously and never receive any acknowledgement?

Have you ever felt led to do something that seemed illogical or even absurd, but you knew God was telling you to act?

In the dance of life...

In the dance of life, let the Holy Spirit lead.

1. To live the Christian life, it's really quite simple:
    Know Jesus
       Pray
          Know the Bible
             Obey
                Whatever you do, do it in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit

This is our job description as Christians for keeping ourselves on the right track and staying focused on our relationship with God. It is simple...not always simple to do, but this is the Holy Spirit's dance, and He needs to have the lead. When I list "obey" above, I am not talking about gritting your teeth in determined willpower and following a bunch of rules. That is religion. The Christian life is exactly that...life! It is a relationship and a daily experience with the Living, Loving God of the Universe! The Holy Spirit is His Spirit living in our lives. So, we follow His lead.

2. How do we help others do the same if they are not yet believers? We don't!
Well, we might, but we don't do it ourselves or in our strength or with our clever ideas, and especially not with our judgment and condemnation. It's all Him...it's all the Holy Spirit. You see, that's part of His job description: drawing people to Himself.

3. Our command for helping believers is to disciple them...teach them to watch what we do and do the same. Teach by doing, sharing, loving, and building a trusting relationship with other believers. It takes time, energy, and true compassion. Help them
   Know Jesus
      Pray
         Know the Bible
            Obey
               And walk in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

4. For those who don't yet believe, we have one command: Love them!

Okay, maybe two or three commands: pray for them and share what God has done in your life too, but we really need the Holy Spirit for all of these. So, again, let Him lead.

I'm going to tell a little story here before going on. I used to teach with this guy who was raised Presbyterian but professed to be an atheist. He was living with his Taiwanese girlfriend who was heavily into the traditional religions of Taiwan. We talked a lot, and many times I wanted to say something in response to what he said, and the Holy Spirit would say, "No." It was very clear. I was not to say anything outside of answering a direct question from him. At the end of my time at that school I left feeling like I'd kind of dropped the ball in sharing the Gospel with this really great couple. I wanted so much for them to have a relationship with Christ. I truly care about them, but the Holy Spirit would only allow me to pray for them which I still do.

When they decided to get married, they asked my husband Dave to do the ceremony which was basically a Christian wedding ceremony in which Dave did get to share the Gospel. We were surprised and blessed that they would ask him to officiate. But what really blew me away was that after I had moved on to another school, this teacher was talking to a friend of ours, and he said to him about my faith, "That Terrie is the real deal." Even now I am overwhelmed by that.

Do you see? We don't draw anyone to Christ. He draws them and affects their lives as we simply pray and obey. If He says speak up, we should speak up. If He says stay quiet, we should stay quiet.

5. In addition, I don't understand expecting a non-Christian to live like a Christian. Think how offended most people who are not Muslim get when non-Muslim women are expected to wear the hijab. We don't think it is right, but we expect non-Christians to know and follow the Word of God all the time, and when they don't, some judge and get pretty ungodly. Where is the Holy Spirit in that? Where is His wisdom and direction? I think He may have left the dance floor, and some have not even noticed. While He was leading us in a waltz, some started break-dancing. (Am I carrying the analogy too far?)

I'm not saying there should not be laws and a moral standard. That is beyond Christianity or any other faith. That is at the center of all human beings and was put there by the Creator. That's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the judging and expectations put upon our culture that is no longer Christian, but is actually becoming more Buddhist every day. We cannot expect someone who doesn't know the rules to follow them. Culture has taught them different rules which they are most-likely following.

If we want this to be a Christian nation, then we need to start loving people and sharing what Christ has done in our lives. Let the Holy Spirit do His job in drawing people to Himself and in convicting them of any sin He chooses to deal with in their lives.

Our job: love, pray, share

In the dance of life, let the Holy Spirit lead.

6. I should probably end with that, but I was just thinking about why some Christians feel such a compulsion to judge and criticize those who aren't living the Christian life even though they aren't Christians. Could it be insecurity? Do we not trust God to draw people to Himself? Do we think it's our job? Or is it that we can't handle people not agreeing with us all the time? Maybe we are insecure in our beliefs and need others to agree with us to make us feel better and affirm us?

Is it hard to be friends with someone who doesn't believe the same as we do? I'm not saying it isn't challenging at times. I have many friends who totally disagree with my beliefs. And there are times I bite my tongue and just pray silently. It's uncomfortable sometimes. But I count it a great privilege to have these people in my life. #1- because they are awesome people whom I love calling "friend", #2 - because it helps me understand what they believe and why, and #3 - because I get the opportunity to pray that God draws them to Himself.

There are some really nasty, awful people in the world, but I truly believe they are the exception, not the norm. Most people are just trying to live a good life and are wonderful to get to know.

If you feel afraid, insecure, or hesitant, I would go back to prayer again! God has not given us a spirit of fear. Let God help you find your confidence in Him, and see where He might take you on life's dance floor. It will surely be an adventure wherever it might be. And, in the end, I bet it is a really beautiful dance.

In Our Weakness, Literally!

Tonight I was listening to Nick Vujicic online. He's such an amazing speaker. In this talk he said, "God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands and feet." It struck me how powerful that statement is. And how literally Nick lives out the promise that in our weakness God is strong. 

9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.”Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength]. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, AMP)

In reality, we all live this out daily in our lives. As we share our faith, teach a class, help another person, or try to write a blog post that says something valuable, we are acting in our weakness and God's strength if any fruit is to come from our efforts. In our strength, it is all hay and stubble. In His strength, lives can be changed. We just don't always see such a literal picture of God's strength using our weakness. With Nick, it's clear. Two years ago at a writers' conference, we heard the keynote speaker who has battled tongue cancer. She was amazing, and God spoke through her so strongly as she shared in spite of her weakness. 

These people give me hope. These verses help me feel brave. I've never known the Lord to call us to do what we can do on our own. I think that is by design. He knows if we can do it ourselves, we will. And in that process, we will forget Him. We will forget that it is His plan, His calling, and His results. We would be puffed up, because that's what we do as humans. Pride may come before a fall, but I think pride comes before a fall, after a fall, during a fall, and even if there is no fall if we're not careful to remain humble and focused on God. In addition to pride, we also battle such stumbling blocks as fear, doubt, comparison, and any number of other mind games. Is it any wonder that if we are going to worship God in the right way, we have to let God renew our minds, and we must give ourselves as living sacrifices? (Romans 12:1-2)

We praise God for such promises as what we find in Ephesians 2:10 (AMP): For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

   As living sacrifices 

      with renewed minds focused on Christ, 

         we worship God with our lives as 

            God accomplishes His plans He had before we were even born, 

               and we can rest, confident that in our weakness He is strong. 

How does God want to use your unique, amazing masterpiece of a life for His glory? What weakness will you put in His capable hands today?