DECAPOLIS

God's Will (Part VIII): Common Callings, or A Bacon Buffet

Conrad — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:52:12 +0000

Again we go deeper into discerning God's Will. It's like going to a buffet with bacon. You take a few pieces and they keep on bringing more out. There's just more and more to appreciate.

To recap, when figuring out God's Specific Will for you, you need to understand how to figure out your callings. Then you need to manage your callings. Now you need to take it one step further…

You need to know where your callings intersect other people's callings.

Whoa Conrad, what in the world are you talking about now?

I talked about little about this before with the Body of Christ, but now I'll explain it a little more.

Remember how we need to match up our callings (Gifts + Talents + Resources = Calling) with open doors?

Let's say I have the GIFT of music and good looks, and have the TALENT of playing the piano and being good looking, and I have the RESOURCE of having Tuesday nights free because models don't typically work on Tuesdays.

You have the GIFT of leadership and music, and the TALENT of singing and public speaking and have the RESOURCE of Tuesday nights free.

And we both go to the same church where there's an open door for a new music worship team that practices on Tuesday nights.

Your calling of being a worship leader and my calling of being a pianist intersect with that open door of the worship team. You might not even know me. But we both join up and now we have a…

Common Calling

A lot of these common callings people typically consider "ministries". Which really is a group of people coming together for a common spiritual goal.

We see common callings all the time. We just don't see them that way.

We enter a common calling the day we're born… our family. You are born into a group where you have the same spiritual goal - to build up your family to glorify God.

If you do stuff at your church, you are apart of a common calling. Being involved in some other ministry, being in a band, being on a pirate ship, etc., these are all examples where you are apart of a common calling.

One major common calling is marriage. When two people who's callings are so similar and these callings intersect at so many places that it's obvious that God is pushing them together. That topic is so huge that I'll devote a separate devotional for that one.

So yes, things get much more in depth because now you're not just trying to manage your callings correctly - but in some cases, if you are in leadership in one of these common callings (like parents, Pastor, worship leader, managers), you now have to manage other people's callings as well. Which means you have to be able to identify other people's callings in order to manage them.

Managing my callings and other people's callings? Man, that's a whole lot of stuff to do.

Yeah, that's why there's a book in Scripture devoted to wisdom. That's why we need to pray for wisdom every day. And that's why Oprah is on every weekday.

1CO 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. [13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

1CO 12:14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. [15] If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [16] And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. [17] If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? [18] But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. [19] If they were all one part, where would the body be? [20] As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

1CO 12:21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" [22] On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, [23] and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, [24] while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, [25] so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. [26] If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, faithfulness to figure out your callings and the callings of people with common callings so you can work more effectively together.

Take time to pray: Pray for wisdom. The wisdom to be able to identify your callings, the callings of others and the leadership to be able to manage other people's callings when you are required to.

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God's Will Part VII: What About Me Again? Or, Be the Best Taco.

Conrad — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:39:33 +0000

Last time I went over how to find one of your callings. When I was writing it, I realized that one of my callings was to eat a pound of cheese, which I did as unto the Lord.

The thing about callings is that you have to realize that you have more than one calling at a time.

For example God has called me to a web designer, a husband, a writer, a board member at a Christian school, a model, a ninja and a zombie killer.

Just because I have the calling of being a good husband doesn't mean that I leave everything else behind and do that one thing. Just because I have the gift of music doesn't mean I leave everything else behind to go on tour year round.

To do God's Will you have to manage all the callings you have.

You have to prepare to teach your Sunday School class while making sure your kids are fed while making sure you complete your project at work while making sure you're doing your devotions.

Your life is like a taco. You can't just focus on making sure one ingredient is really good but leaving other ingredients out on the counter getting all soggy and mushy. Cause when you finally put your taco together, it'll be totally gross.

Your life is the same way. You can just leave some callings alone getting all gross, you have to take care of all of them, or else you become a disgusting taco.

Now assuming that you indeed have figured out your God given callings through scripture… how do you decide which callings take priority at certain times? How do you decide how much time to spend on one verses another?

Wisdom.

Something to understand too is that many callings are not permanent. You'll have them for a season, then it either ends or changes into a new one.

Let's say God wants you to be a pastor, but right now you're 15 years old. Your calling right now is to be in high school. That calling will end and then you're called to go to some seminary. Then that ends, then you're called to assistant pastor at some church. Then that calling ends, then you're hired to be the head pastor at some other church.

Just in that one example one calling ended and gave rise to another one. But let's say you got married when you were in seminary, well your calling to be in seminary might end, but your calling to be a good husband still sticks with you.

You have to manage your callings to be doing God's Will.

And you need wisdom to do that.

Wisdom... to be the best taco you can be!

PR 3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

    but keep my commands in your heart,

   PR 3:2 for they will prolong your life many years

    and bring you prosperity.

   PR 3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

    bind them around your neck,

    write them on the tablet of your heart.

   PR 3:4 Then you will win favor and a good name

    in the sight of God and man.

   PR 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

   PR 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

   PR 3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

    fear the LORD and shun evil.

   PR 3:8 This will bring health to your body

    and nourishment to your bones.

   PR 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth,

    with the firstfruits of all your crops;

   PR 3:10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

    and your vats will brim over with new wine.

   PR 3:11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline

    and do not resent his rebuke,

   PR 3:12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

    as a father the son he delights in.

   PR 3:13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,

    the man who gains understanding,

   PR 3:14 for she is more profitable than silver

    and yields better returns than gold.

   PR 3:15 She is more precious than rubies;

    nothing you desire can compare with her.

   PR 3:16 Long life is in her right hand;

    in her left hand are riches and honor.

   PR 3:17 Her ways are pleasant ways,

    and all her paths are peace.

   PR 3:18 She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;

    those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

   PR 3:19 By wisdom the LORD laid the earth's foundations,

    by understanding he set the heavens in place;

   PR 3:20 by his knowledge the deeps were divided,

    and the clouds let drop the dew.

   PR 3:21 My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,

    do not let them out of your sight;

   PR 3:22 they will be life for you,

    an ornament to grace your neck.

   PR 3:23 Then you will go on your way in safety,

    and your foot will not stumble;

   PR 3:24 when you lie down, you will not be afraid;

    when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, faithfulness to manage all your callings.

Take time to pray: Ask for wisdom to manage all your callings.

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God's Will (Part VI): "What About Me?" or "I am Called to Eat Doughnuts"

Conrad — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:18:05 +0000

We talked about God's Will in general. Now we need to get more specific... We need to talk about the individual. What about me, what about you? Now I know you all want to hear more about me. But being as humble as I am, I will now talk about you. A bit. Then we can get back to me.

There are two types of God's Will.

1. General Commands

2. Individual Callings

General Commands of God's Will is for everyone to do. Love your neighbor, don't kill, don't shop at Guitar Center, stuff like that.

Individual Callings are God's Will specifically for you. You are supposed to witness to Billy, but not me. You are supposed to be a nurse and I'm supposed to be a ninja. You're supposed to teach Sunday School and I'm supposed to eat doughnuts.

The thing to note before I move on is that you still figure out both types of God's Will the same way…

Knowing God's Word + Believing God's Word + Applying God's Word = God's Will

We might just start with different verses.

What are these verses that speak about our individuality?

1CO 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. [28] And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30] Do all have gifts of healing?

Now what does this passage mention that separates us from one another?

Gifts.

God has given us all different gifts. And I'll expound on this some to help us flesh it out a bit more.

God has given us

1. Gifts

2. Talents

3. Resources

Another equation to learn:

Gifts + Talents + Resources = Individual Callings

Gifts - would be stuff like the passage above, being good at general area of life, the gift of teaching, music, administration, hospitality, compassion, etc.

Talents - are a little more specific, playing guitar, public speaking, math, writing, eating doughnuts.

Resources - are things in your life that make you unique from others so you can serve an a particular area. Money, family background, mistakes you've made, hardships you've faced, what you look like, physical handicaps, location, race, transportation, access to doughnuts. That list goes on forever.

Now you match all these things together with a particular passage to see if you're the one to go through an open door.

Here's an example:

Who should minister to this girl, you or me? There's a girl who is dealing with bulimia. She think she's fat and feels worthless.

Let's say you are a girl. God didn't give you a great metabolism, so you are a little chunky. You have dealt with self-esteem issues in the past and have dealt with bulimia too.

Now there's me. God made me a super model, with no self-esteem issues and an award eating doughnut champion.

Who do you think should be ministering to this girl about her problem?

That would be you.

You are a hand, I am an elbow, Billy is a toenail, Sally is a pituitary gland. We all have different roles.

If something needs to get picked up, you need to know that you're the hand so you can do it.

If you don't do it, either it doesn't get picked up and done, and other people, like the mouth or the feet have to try to pick it up and it doesn't get done as well and it looks really stupid.

How can you see the open doors in front of you when you don't even know you're the one who's supposed to be going through those doors?

How can you perform a function, when you don't know that's your function?

It is imperative that we all find out where in the Body of Christ we are.

What are your Gifts, Talents and Resources? Don't know? Then ask your friends and family to help you think about what your gifts, talents and resources are.

When you figure that out, then you'll know where in the Body of Christ you fit, and then you can start doing God's Will.

Now please excuse me while I minister to these doughnuts beside me.

RO 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. [4] Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. [7] If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; [8] if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness - the faithfulness to sit down and figure out what your individual callings are.

Take time to pray: Pray for wisdom to be able to figure out what your gifts, talents and resources are.

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Divebomber - "Sayonara Sucker", Live for Halloween

Conrad — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:55:10 +0000

This is my band on Halloween night. Julia, my wife and lead singer, dressed up as Count Chocula. Someone should sign us just because of that.

http://myspace.com/divebomber

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God's Will Part V: Open Doors

Conrad — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:43:15 +0000

So you got the Bible and you know it says a bunch of stuff, but how do you know when to apply it? Just cause the Bible says to evangelize, doesn't mean we're supposed to do evangelize all the time, non-stop, with no sleep. How can you evangelize in your sleep? Unless you're me. One time, I seriously dreamt that I witnessed to Dave Mustaine of the metal band Megadeth, and a few years later he got saved. Powerful stuff man.

So how do we know when to Apply God's Word - a specific part of it in a specific situation?

Remember our equation for God's Will?

Knowing God's Word + Believing God's Word + Applying God's Word = God's Will

The Bible says to take care of the poor. So if I see a commercial with starving people in Africa does that mean that I am supposed to go over there and feed them?

What you are seeing are open doors - opportunities. But just because you see an open door doesn't mean that you're the one to go through it.

Why is that?

Because you have other open doors you're supposed to be going through.

So now you have all these doors in front of you. How did they get there? Did God open them all for you?

No.

Yes, some of these doors were opened by God for you.

But, some of them are opened by coincidence. Just because they're running a sale on handguns doesn't mean that God is opening the door so you can buy a dozen guns.

And guess who else can open doors? Satan. And what do we call it when he opens doors?

Temptation.

Just because someone forgot their Star Trek DVDs in your car doesn't mean God opened the door for you to take it.

So we need to first realize that there are open doors all around us.

Then each person needs to figure out which ones are opened by God specifically for them.

Some of these doors are totally obvious. You see your friend crying - go and minister to them. You see your mom washing the dishes - help her. You see your brother listening to a James Taylor album - burn the album, bury the ashes, then curse the ground.

Many doors are a lot more tricky and are more specific - which I'll get to later.

But in the meantime, keep your eyes open for the many obvious doors. God has opened a ton of them for you. They're all around us.

Ignorance of God's Will isn't an excuse for not following His will. Not doing God's will is still disobedience.

As you interact with your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors… listen… watch. What are they saying? Do they need help? Will we notice the open door to do God's Will?

Or do we just notice the open doors that only please ourselves?

MT 24:45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? [46] It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. [47] I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. [48] But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, `My master is staying away a long time,' [49] and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. [50] The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. [51] He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit: Love. Viewing people with love will help you notice the open doors of God's Will much more.

Take time to pray: Ask God to help you listen and watch events with His Will in mind so that when He opens a door you'll be able to notice it and go through it.

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God's Will Part IV: Help!

Conrad — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:36:49 +0000

Now we're digging a little deeper into God's Will. Assuming you read the previous devotion about humility - I will assume you are now as humble as I am. We'll probably not quite as humble as I am, because I am the humblest person ever.

So to pick up where we left off, remember ...

We might read a passages and know what it says, but that doesn't mean we know what it means.

In our humility we'll go, "Dude, I don't know nothin'. That stuff is hard."

We are saying, "I need wisdom to understand this. I don't have enough wisdom in this field. So, I need wisdom from beyond me."

If you don't have wisdom, seek out wisdom from others.

Ask yourself, "Hey, who knows what in the world this passage means?"

A couple of things to mention when looking for someone with wisdom.

1. The person you're looking to get help from has to be explaining it from a Godly standpoint. It can't just be their own interpretation of it.

"I think when Christ said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," that totally means puppies can be saved! And you thought I was stupid for witnessing to that Beagle. Now Poodles on the other hand, they all love Satan - so don't even bother with them."

2. The person doesn't have to be all wise in all aspects of life - just the one you're asking about. If you're reading a passage about suffering, that person who thinks puppies can be saved may have gone through major suffering where God taught them a lot about what a passage really means through that suffering.

Ask them to explain the passages of suffering to you. Not evangelism.

3. The person doesn't even have to alive. Now I'm not talking about zombies of course. It's not like you'll be able to understand what they're saying.

"Excuse me kind sir. What does it mean to truly repent?"

"Auuuughhh. Eeuaaaghhh. Braaains. BRAAAIINNS!"

No, I'm talking about the dead who have written their explanations down in a book. Like a theology book, or a devotional, or a Sunday School book, that type of thing.

Like if you have a question about the Trinity - well there's about a million people who have written books trying to explain it with a whole lot of Bible verses and original Hebrew and Greek translations, etc. Those authors could be alive or dead. Doesn't matter. It's written down.

You can even do an internet search. That stuff is written down too.

So maybe you don't have wisdom with a certain passage, but you will definitely need to use wisdom on who to ask.

What if you have two people you think are wise, but they're saying opposite things? Who do you believe? Maybe they're both wrong. You'll have to have wisdom.

Maybe you can get other people's wisdom on who's wisdom to ask for. Okay, that might be confusing so I'll use examples.

You're reading something, and you don't know who to ask for help. Well Billy might not know the answer, but he might be able to refer you to someone who might.

So use wisdom by asking someone for wisdom on who to ask for wisdom. Then when you get their wisdom, use wisdom to know if what they are saying is Biblical or not.

What's the common thread?

Wisdom.

PR 2:1 My son, if you accept my words

    and store up my commands within you,

PR 2:2 turning your ear to wisdom

    and applying your heart to understanding,

PR 2:3 and if you call out for insight

    and cry aloud for understanding,

PR 2:4 and if you look for it as for silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasure,

PR 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD

    and find the knowledge of God.

PR 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom,

    and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

PR 2:7 He holds victory in store for the upright,

    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

PR 2:8 for he guards the course of the just

    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

PR 2:9 Then you will understand what is right and just

    and fair--every good path.

PR 2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

PR 2:11 Discretion will protect you,

    and understanding will guard you.

PR 2:12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,

    from men whose words are perverse,

PR 2:13 who leave the straight paths

    to walk in dark ways,

PR 2:14 who delight in doing wrong

    and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

PR 2:15 whose paths are crooked

    and who are devious in their ways.

PR 2:16 It will save you also from the adulteress,

    from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

PR 2:17 who has left the partner of her youth

    and ignored the covenant she made before God.

PR 2:18 For her house leads down to death

    and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

PR 2:19 None who go to her return

    or attain the paths of life.

PR 2:20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men

    and keep to the paths of the righteous.

PR 2:21 For the upright will live in the land,

    and the blameless will remain in it;

PR 2:22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

    and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness, faithfulness to continually seek wisdom

Take time to pray: Ask for wisdom especially to find people (books, etc) that will help you understand what passages you're dealing with.

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God's Will Part III: Starting Point

Conrad — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:11:32 +0000

We've been talking about how to discern God's Will and how it's based in God's Word. But that doesn't mean we have it all down. There's so much to it. There's only a couple people who have it all down. So unless your name is Oprah or Dumbledore you should probably read this.

To recap…

Knowing God's Word + Believing God's Word + Applying God's Word = God's Will

The more of each element we have, the more of God's Will we'll be able to do.

So how can we grow in each of these elements?

Let's just take "Knowing God's Word". How can you grow in Knowing God's Word?

Obviously you start with daily devotions. But you can't just stop there. The scriptures are so deep that we can't get everything out of it just by reading some random chapter each night.

Pretend you read this verse during your devotional…

1CO 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. [2] I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. [3] You are still worldly.

Now, who was the author of the passage? Who was he writing it to? Why was he writing it? What problems was he trying to address?

So you might know what it says, but do you know what it means?

If you don't know what it means, how can you believe it? How can you apply it?

This is where the limits of your own understanding stop and you need to call in help.

I'll talk about where you need to get help in a different devotional, because before you get to the help, you need to realize that we all need help.

If we think we're fine without help, well then we have a bit of pride to get over don't we? None of us know everything we could about a subject.

Pride thinks we're okay without doing devotions. If we get past that, then pride thinks we're okay by tackling it on our own.

So let's get pride out of the way first.

And what's the opposite of pride? Humility.

We must understand we are like helpless children who need guidance and protection. We don't hold the right answers. In fact, we hold all the wrong answers. So let's stop acting like we know everything.

Till we humble ourselves before God, we can forget it all.

MT 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

MT 18:2 He called a little child and had him stand among them. [3] And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

PHP 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

PHP 2:6 Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

PHP 2:7 but made himself nothing,
    taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

PHP 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    and became obedient to death--
      even death on a cross!

PHP 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,

PHP 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

PHP 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

    PHP 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, [13] for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit: Love, love for God and His Word

Take time to pray: Ask God for forgiveness for any pride you might have.

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God's Will (Part II): Missing Pieces

Conrad — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:27:40 +0000

We discussed how there are three parts to God's Will. But what happens if you take one of these pieces out? What would that look like? Can we identify it in our own lives if we see it? Why is bacon so good but yet so bad? These burning questions and more in today's exciting devotional.

As we said earlier:

Knowing God's Word + Believing God's Word + Applying God's Word = God's Will

But what happens a lot of times is we think we're doing God's will but in fact we leave out one of the elements in the equation.

That would be like saying: 1 + 1 - 1 = 3

Or that would be like saying a Taco Supreme is still a Taco Supreme without the shell, or the sour cream, or the intestines.

Let's see what happens when we take one of these things out.

Let's say Billy hits you in the face. The Bible says to turn the other cheek.

"I know God's Word says to turn the other cheek. I believe that it's the right thing to do. But instead I'm going to disobey it and hit Billy in the face with my Taco Supreme." That's just flat out rebellion.

Knowing God's Word + Believing God's Word - Applying God's Word = Rebellion.

What happens if we remove the second element, Believing God's Word.

"I know God's Word says to turn the other cheek, but I really don't want to, but I'll do it anyways." Or my mom tells me to say I'm sorry to Billy, but I'm totally not sorry, but I say sorry anyways.

Knowing God's Word - Believing God's Word + Applying God's Word = Legalism

Legalism is following rules, not because you actually care or understand why, but just for the rule's sake.

What about taking out the first element? Knowing God's Word.

If you don't base it in God's Word what are you replacing it with? Your word (or Satan's, or the world's).

You could be completely sincere about your love for God and do a whole ton for God. But if it's not based in God's Word, you're calling it God's Will but really doing your own will.

"I believe that that God says in the Bible that I need to punch Billy in the mouth. And God I really want to do your will, so I will not only punch Billy in the mouth, I will do it many times, while praising you."

We have to completely rewrite the equation because none of it would be based in God's Word. It would actually look like…

Knowing my feelings or will + Believing my will is God's Will + Applying my will = Emotionalism.

So why do you act the way you do?

Can you point to a passage in scripture that supports your belief that what you are doing is God's Will? Or do you know the scriptures, but don't really care? Or do you go around pretending what you are doing is God's Will while doing your own?

All these are very dangerous.

So when you go about making decisions, make sure you have all three elements in place.

And maybe Billy won't have to pick out taco intestines out of his busted mouth.

Legalism:

MT 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. [24] You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

MT 23:25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. [26] Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

MT 23:27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. [28] In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit to Work on: Faithfulness (faithfulness to His Word).

Take time to Pray: Pray that God would give you wisdom to see when you are missing on of the elements of His will.

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God's Will Part I: The Foundation

Conrad — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:45:39 +0000

Once we realize that other things get in the way of us hearing from God, we start to understand that we can't just try to feel God's will. Obi Wan is always saying, "Trust your feelings," but it didn't really work out so well for Anakin did it? Because his feelings were about power, revenge and bad acting.

Of course the way to know what God's will is would be through Scripture.

But do you actually think knowing Scripture is enough?

Cause it's not.

Oh that crazy Conrad with his heresy again.

But let me ask you this… does someone who has a photographic memory and read and memorizes the entire Bible - is he somehow the best Christian ever? Just because Satan knows the Bible more than us, does that make him a better Christian that us?

It's not enough to just know God's Word.

You also have to believe it. It has to change you.

But belief is not enough either.

Let's say your neighbor is a moron. You know that the Bible says to 'love your neighbor' and you can believe that it's the right thing to do, but instead - you punch your neighbor in the face and steal his pants.

That's probably not God's will.

You see you forgot the last part of God's will - you actually have to apply scripture.

Taking God's Word, knowing it, believing it and applying it correctly IS God's Will. I'll write it in the form of a math equation.

God's Will = Knowing God's Word + Believing God's Word + Applying God's Word

Now of course that answer looks very simple in that form, but we all know that actually doing God's will is difficult so I'll be getting into that in subsequent devotionals.

But just understand that if God's will starts and ends with God's Word, why do we place so little effort in it's study, but spend so much time in recreation?

If we want to really are devoted to God's will, we need to be devoted to what it's based in - His Word.

So give your neighbor his pants back.

   JAS 2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? [15] Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. [16] If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? [17] In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

    JAS 2:18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."

    Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. [19] You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

    JAS 2:20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? [21] Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. [23] And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. [24] You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit to work on: Faithfulness, faithfulness to His Word.

Take time to pray: Ask God to help you be more devoted to His Word.

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Getting the Wrong Message III

Conrad — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:49:24 +0000

There's the third and last place where we get the wrong message. The first was our own feelings, the second is Satan. And the third is the Dairy Council. Those dairy farmers can't be trusted, with their evil vampire cows and their rubber boots and their overalls.

Okay, not really.

The third place we get the wrong message is actually - the world.

Rom 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

As Christians we are continually comparing ourselves to the world, rather than separating ourselves from it.

A huge example is the divorce rate among Christians. You would think that it would be different, but it's not. You would think that Christians would take their oath before God more seriously than people who could care less about Him.

But no. We've been sucked into thinking like the world. "Oh, I don't love her anymore. That's grounds for divorce right? That's how our society thinks, so therefore that's how I think."

If our society accepts something, then Christians follow suit a little bit later.

Don't even get me started on politics. It's always a comparison against the previous or current administration. "Well they did this when they were in power," or "you didn't seem to get upset when your guy this something like this."

Instead of standing apart. We compare ourselves to the world. They become the standard to which we measure ourselves.

Why do we do that? Listen to this…

1JN 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. [17] The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Why would we even begin to compare ourselves to the world when God describes the world like that?

We should be the standard to which the world compares themselves to. We should be a light on a hill.

The world should look to us.

And we should compare ourselves to Christ, not the world.

So ask yourself, "How am I setting the Christ-like standard in my family, school, workplace, Facebook, and community?"

"Will people see the difference in me simply by seeing my relationships, my speech, my status updates, my punctuality, my joy, my honesty, my diligence, my hard-work, my devotion, my love for others?"

Or do they seem someone who is just as stressed out as they are, complaining about the same things, and have relationships that are just as bad as theirs.

Be a light in this world, set the Christ-like standard to those around you - and don't be just another burnt out light bulb.

1PE 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. [2] As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. [3] For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. [4] They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. [5] But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. [6] For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

Today's Fruit of the Spirit to work on: Faithfulness

Take time to pray: Ask God for wisdom to see where you have adopted the standards of the world. Also, ask God for wisdom to know how to be the light to those around you.

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