Life Skills: Being Submitted to God

Tonight was another fantastic Life Skills session at re:generation church, led by Hannah.

The session was on submitting to God, not from a place of weakness and lack of other options, but from a place of love and of trust, knowing that the plans that He has for you are for your best (Jeremiah 29:11). Hannah’s challenge was this: how can you get closer to God if you are unwilling to submit fully to Him and to hear and follow the calling He has on your life?

In our groups, we discussed areas in our own lives where we have struggled (and are struggling) to submit. The challenge was raised when thinking of great men and women of God (like Jim Elliott or Gladys Aylward) who dedicated their lives to God’s specific calling. What would the Christian faith and the world around us look like without those men and women who have (and do) submit their lives fully to God.

But these are not myths and legends. Modern day heroes of faith still live among us. People like Christine Caine, fighting against human trafficking (A21 Campaign), or Bill Wilson, fighting for the salvation of inner city children in New York City (Metro Ministries).

Joyce Meyer’s post in her daily online devotional was on the same topic today: Lean and depend on Jesus:

My trust and assured reliance and confident hope shall be fixed in Him. —Hebrews 2:13

Proverbs 17:1 says that a house full of sacrifices with strife is not pleasing to the Lord. In other words, we could make all kinds of sacrifices of time and effort to try to help people, yet God is not pleased unless we stay in peace. Pursuing peace means making an effort. But we cannot maintain peace simply by our own fleshly effort. We need God's help and we need grace, which is His power assisting us and enabling us to do what needs to be done.

The effort we make must be in Christ. So often we just try to do what is right without asking for God's help, and that type of fleshly effort never produces good fruit. The Bible calls this a "work of the flesh." It is man's effort trying to do God's job. What I am saying is, be sure you lean on God and ask for His help. When you succeed, give Him the credit, the honor, and the glory because success is impossible without Him. Jesus said, Apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing (John 15:5).

It takes most of us a long time to believe this scripture enough to stop trying to do things without leaning on God. We try and fail, try and fail. It happens over and over until we finally wear ourselves out and realize that God Himself is our strength, our success, and our victory. He doesn't just give us strength—He is our Strength. He does not just give us the victory—He is our Victory. Yes, we make an effort to keep peace, but we dare not make an effort without depending on God's power to flow through us—failure is certain if we do.

{From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer}

So, whatever it is that you feel God has impressed on your heart to do, lean into Him, trust Him to provide where you are faithful and obedient. God may be calling you to mission work in another country, but He may equally be calling you to visit the sick or elderly in your neighbourhood; to work with children who live on the estate near you, or to serve in your church. God has a different and unique purpose for each of us.

What is your purpose? Are you sold out to it?

Blessings!

Ronell x

“Remember He is the artist and you are only the picture. You can’t see it. So quietly submit to be painted.” {C.S. Lewis}

"Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you." {Job 22:21}

re:think – life skills at re:generation church

Last night was Life Skills (re:think) at re:generation church (every Tuesday @ 7.30pm: http://www.regenerationchurch.co.uk/). It was a truly thought provoking and inspirational session.

The night kicked off with an amazing Tajik woman who came to share about the incredible work that God is doing in Tajikistan through her and her husband’s joint work with Scripture Union (http://www.subi.org.uk/page14/page20/page20.html). They are putting themselves in danger, reaching out to the Muslim youth and families in Tajikistan, and spreading the Gospel.

I was really challenged by the amount of freedom of religion and speech that we have compared to the people of Tajikistan and how poorly we are using those freedoms! (this really tied in with the next section of the evening, which I will get into in a bit).

She asked us to pray for three very specific things, so it would be great if you could join us in praying for the following three things for our brothers and sister’s in Tajikistan:

1.   protection and safety for themselves, their family and all their volunteers.

2.   safety and courage for the children and young people who have heard about God from them, but are too scared to become Christians due to the potentially fatal repercussions from family and friends.

3.   completion of their camp on their newly acquired piece of land, on which they will finally be able to hold Christian camps, pray and preach the Gospel (not freely allowed on other premises).

The next part of the evening was a very thought-provoking talk on gossiping by Alicia. She has kindly forwarded me her notes, which I have adapted below. Please take the time to read this and seriously ponder on the gravity of the scriptures that she has included to illustrate her points. Before I get onto Alicia’s notes, I also just wanted to share two very relevant quotes that were posted on facebook today by two other friends of mine:

Jamie (@JamiePoch) wrote:

“I once read the following paragraph in a book by Catherine Marshall called A Closer Walk. It had a significant impact on my life. See what you think...

One morning last week He gave me an assignment: for one day I was to go on a 'fast' from criticism. I was not to criticize anybody about anything. For the first half of the day, I simply felt a void, almost as if I had been wiped out as a person. This was especially true at lunch...I listened to the others and kept silent... In our talkative family no one seemed to notice. Bemused, I noticed that my comments were not missed. The federal government, the judicial system, and the institutional church could apparently get along fine without my penetrating observations. But still I didn't see what this fast on criticism was accomplishing -- until mid-afternoon. That afternoon, a specific, positive vision for this life was dropped into my mind with God's unmistakable hallmark on it -- joy! Ideas began to flow in a way I had not experienced in years. Now it was apparent what the Lord wanted me to see. My critical nature had not corrected a single one of the multitudinous things I found fault with. What it had done was to stifle my own creativity. Criticism is a poison that infiltrates friendships, relationships in our businesses, and even our own families. Like a wrecking ball to a condemned building, our criticism destroys the spirit of those who are scrutinized.”

Michael (@jellyoats) wrote:

“#GodPosts: Your WORDS will tell others what you THINK, but your ACTIONS will tell others what you BELIEVE.”

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Gossip and a tainted tongue

Statistics on UK Gossip Magazine are ambiguous – ranging from £24m – 8billion. Although the statistics are unclear, the popularity of these magazines are not. If gossip affects the world around us then it must have an impact on us, right?

The Bible’s perspective on gossip?

When doing a ‘key word search’ on a Bible app, the word ‘gossip’ has very negative connotations, sitting alongside words like pride, untrustworthy, liars, God-haters, murder, insolent, arrogant, greed, hate. {Romans 1:27-31}

The tongue has the power to steer a soul off course: “¹Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ²We all stumble in many ways. Those who are never at fault in what they say are perfect, able to keep their whole body in check. ³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by human beings, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water?” {James 3: 1-12}

Where does gossip grow from?

“For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart” {Matthew 12:34}. Often, it stems from pride, insecurity, arrogance and dishonesty. We need to bear in mind that words have more authority than we know. Think of the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me”… Is that saying really true? No: self-esteem issues and insecurities are not born only out of physical abuse!

Imagine someone, complete stranger, walks in and has an opinion of you based on a lie. Or relays a story in your life and it so far from the truth, how would you feel? A good example of just how devasating gossip can be (particularly when it is based on a lie) can be seen in this video of the McCann family at the Leveson Inquiry: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15860071.

We should speak words that have intent/purpose:

§  Good effect: “The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewellery” {Proverbs 25:11}

§  Bad effects: Life damaging – causing paranoia, anxiety, insecurity. Ruin reputations - breaking stigmas can be difficult.

Practical tips in resisting gossip:

§   Build one another up (Ephesians 4:29)

§   Break the chain (think of the game ‘Chinese whispers’)

§   Disagreement (Acts 15, Paul & Barnabas model how to respond)

§   Boldness to stand out from the crowd (Psalm 101:5)

§   ‘I am really concerned about ‘W’ so I am going speak about it to ‘X’, ‘Y’ & ‘Z’ ’. The pastoral way of doing things – (1) prayerfully approach the person, (2) have a private conversation with the person, (3) escalate the issue to someone in leadership.

§   Change friendship groups (Proverbs 20:19) – delete people on facebook, stop following people on twitter, sit in different places in class, hang out with them less, confront what was said

§   As people, we will always have an opinion about a person, situation, organization, but consider for once that maybe your opinion isn’t valid.

§   Dealing with the deeper issues – gossip can be borne out of a place of insecurity, arrogance, etc

§   Be reconciled (Matthew 5:23|4)

We are called to be people of truth:

§  Each of us are called to worship in Spirit and in TRUTH (John 4)

§  “For I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception” {Proverbs 8:7}

Speaking Truth has a direct Impact on our Spiritual Walk:

“Who may worship your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? ²Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts” {Psalm 15:1-2}

“³¹Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, ‘You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” {John 8:31-32}

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Help to break the chain of gossiping and bullying by making a change in the way YOU speak and act towards others today! You will be amazed at the effect that you can have on others around you.

Blessings!

Ronell x

“No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues” {Bertrand Russell}