Pray as though it depends on God; work as though it depends on us.

A few weeks ago I was asked to present the core value devotional at SCC. Well here it is!

Morning church! Man it feels like forever since I've last seen your beautiful faces! Hey, let's get started, today's core value is pretty straight forward but the thing I really like about this value is the dirtiness hidden within it. "Pray as though it depends on God; work as though it depends on us."

Let's take a peek at James 2:14-18

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."

What James is saying here is that faith without action is dead. Don't misunderstand, deeds are not the key to Heaven. However, hoping to squeak by on faith alone isn't going to cut it either. What we hear from this passage is that we can't just say "Oh sure, I believe God is all powerful. I believe God can perform mountain moving miracles." We have to be willing to act on that. It's like praying for God to provide a chair then refusing to sit in it. It's more than just saying we believe, we have to act on our faith. 

Check out this quote from A. W. Tozer

"The fallow [or the unplanted] field is smug, contented, protected from the shock of the plow and the agitation of the harrow [or being broken up]. Such a field, as it lies year after year, becomes a familiar landmark to the crow and the blue jay. [...] Safe and undisturbed, it sprawls lazily in the sunshine, the picture of sleepy contentment.

"But it is paying a terrible price for its tranquility: never does it see the miracle of growth; never does it feel the motions of mounting life nor see the wonders of bursting seed nor the beauty of ripening grain. Fruit it can never know because it is afraid of the plow and the harrow. In direct opposite to this, the cultivated field has yielded itself to the adventure of living. The protecting fence has opened to admit the plow, and the plow has come as plows always come..."

"Peace has been shattered by the shouting farmer and the rattle of machinery. The field has felt the travail of change; it has been upset, turned over, bruised and broken..."

Then listen to this, "but its rewards come hard upon its labors."(emphasis mine)

Notice how Tozer gives personification to the field, as though the field did all the work even though the field could do nothing to make the farmer decide to work there. That's exactly how we are, there's nothing we can do physically to get Jesus to cultivate our soul and use us in his mission, but there's a lot we can do to prevent Him from doing that, but when He does cultivate us and use us that is when we see the "rewards that come hard upon [our] labors."

The person who operates by faith alone is like the field that has never been cultivated. They become a landmark where passers by know they can stop for a moment and enjoy the scenery. They are somebody who we know we can go to and ask faith questions, maybe they're quick with a quote or can help us understand scriptures. But the person whose faith has completely changed their life is like the field that has been cultivated, they have taken down the protective fences around their souls and allowed the spiritual farmer to plow the land, to sow the seed, to fertilize and water the soil. These are the people we can look to and see how we should act in different scenarios, these are the people we look to to show us how to not only believe in the chair but how to sit in the chair. They show us how to live by our faith and through our faith, when we're going through the cultivation process they can help lead us through. So yes, we should pray as though is depends solely on God, because it does it's His plan being played out, but we should work as though it depends on us, because to say we have faith without putting in the work is to stair at a chair and say, "I prefer to stand."

Fearless

"Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel," (Ephesians 6:19)

One word stands out to me from this passage more than the others. Fearlessly. More specifically 'fearless' what does it mean to be without fear? What does that look like? 1John 4:18 tells us, 

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Think of it as fire and water, when a fire starts in a house or building we call the fire department and they come in with their big trucks and high pressure hoses to pour water on the fire to put it out. Water and fire cannot coexist. Either the water douses the fire thus extinguishing it, or the fire scorches the water causing it to evaporate.

love           /       water
fear        /          fire

They cancel each other out.

So, if we are afraid of something then that must mean loving that thing is out of the question.

     What does self-fear look like?
Internal fear may be different for each person, common themes include;

• second-guessing ourselves
• low self-esteem

• putting our needs dead last

• refusal to leave our comfort-zone
• not trusting God's promise for our lives

     What does self-love look like?
• confidence in ourselves and God's work in our lives
• increased self-worth
•proper structure of priorities
(others before self yet addressing our own needs)
• confidence in God's promise

"And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭5-8‬ NIV)

Where does fearlessness start?

Fearlessness must start within ourselves, we must first learn to love ourselves as God loves us and accept His love for us. After we have accepted the never ending love of Christ in our life the next step is to abide in that love. We can't find Jesus' love 8AM on Monday then forget by dinner. His love doesn't last for just hours or days at a time, it doesn't run out at the end of the week or the turn of the month. He doesn't come and go with the seasons or just show up during the holidays. His love is unconditional, unrelenting, and unmatched. Love isn't a one-and-done kind of deal, it is a continual process. Jesus loves us so much that "While we were still sinn[ing, He] died for us." How crazy in love is that? Once we come to grips with Hos unfailing love, then we can know fearlessness of self and that is when we start affecting those around us.

Fight

"If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place." —Criss Jami

Last year my church was challenged to pray to God for a specific word or phrase to impact each of us, some people were pressed with 'follow' others with 'love', 'greater things', 'sacrifice', and even 'new beginnings'. I however couldn't quite discern what the divine had for my "one word" and so I gave it up. (I was very easily dissuaded at this point in life.) 2014 has recently ended and so 2015 has begun (duh!) and I hear this talk about the "one word" all over again and after some personal conversations about the last year and some prayer a word has been burned in my mind.

Fight

"Victory is always possible for the person

who refuses to stop fighting." —Napoleon Hill

When we think of fighting we think fisticuffs, we think harsh language and hurtful words, maybe someone thinks war or another thinks every family gathering. These are not the fights I've been called to dwell upon, when my God ever so lovingly whispers "Fight...Fight...Fight."

The first thing I do think of is Paul's letter in 1Timothy 6:12 NIV,

«Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.»

Second comes when Paul is addressing the Romans, (8:35-39 NIV)

«Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.»

And lastly in his letter to the church of Ephesus,

«Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.»

1Timothy reminds me of the fight to which I've been called, he reminds me to take hold of my calling from God. My fight is not against powers on earth, nor for an earthly throne. I'm not battling my neighbor nor the mailman, I don't fight with the waiter over a burned meal nor the refs on TV over a bad call. My fight is against myself, my poor self-motivation and my excuses, my lack of desire for God and too much desire for pleasures. My fight is against those who would remind me of my shortcomings and would rather see me fail and give up. 

Even when the enemy would have me believe God has abandoned me and left me to fend for myself the section from Paul's letter to the Romans reminds me that I am not alone and that no one can separate me from the love of Jesus, not even being naked because "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (v.37) and his letter to the Ephesians reminds me how to fight, with the power of God on my side and with the tools He has given me!

I look forward to what God will reveal to me through this word 'Fight.' As time goes on I hope I can learn to fight not only for myself but also for those around me. I pray for Gods guidance and wisdom through all of this. To Him be all the glory for ever and ever. Amen.