In our house church, Palmetto Gatherings, we use Lifechurch.tv for our teaching content each week.  The teaching provided by Craig Groeschel challenges us in so many ways and generates some awesome discussion. My kids are engaged as much as we are and will repeat something from a message when you least expect it! Yay God.

The current series is “Bold”.  We have explored Amazing Boldness, Bold Prayer and now Bold Speaking. I have been convicted each week. But, this week really hit home.

The first point in Craig’s message was:

We speak BOLDLY about what we believe DEEPLY.

This is such a true statement. In my career, I’ve been around many sales people. The ones that believe deeply in their products, speak boldly and passionately about their products, services and company.  If they have doubts about any of those things, you can easily hear it in their lack of confidence in what they are saying.

This resonated with me. It was all good.

Then, Craig decided to go….THERE.

Because I Believe So Deeply…
I can’t help but speak boldly to MYSELF.

Yes, there.

He talked about encouraging yourself. Why there? Why now?

Personally and professionally I have consistently dealt with a lack of confidence in who I am, my skills and abilities.  For lack of a better term, I guess it’s based in fear. Fear that I’m not good enough. Fear that my skills are lacking. Fear that I am really not as good at what I do as I think I am. Fear of failure.

Then Craig hit on a verse that I know. That I have studied. But it was different this time.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

- 2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

He pointed out that I need to speak boldly to MYSELF.  I need to speak this over and over to myself.  Suddenly this verse was personal.

Craig shared an example where a guy repeated the same Biblical truth to himself over and over to deal with the challenge of lust. Over time God’s truth sunk in.

I need to speak boldly to myself!

I want to make that verse come alive in my life!

I want to become Fearlessly Bold.

 

Are you nervous when talking to people about your faith?

Are you uncomfortable when you don’t know how to answer people that ask tough questions about life?

When someone needs help, are you unsure of what to say?

Say goodbye to the fear and uncertainty with the Preacher Beeper:

Comedy can be a great tool to address a tough subject and this is another great example. Many of us react much the same way. When our friends and family ask us questions about our faith or share a need, we often look for a pastor or friend for them to talk to.

But, that person is reaching out to us based on the relationship we have with them. They trust us because they know us.  They don’t know our pastor or other friend who is “better at talking to people about that sort of thing.”

Seize that opportunity!

Sometimes all they need is someone to listen. Other times they want to hear YOUR story. No one knows your story better than you.

Tell it.

We live in a self-centered culture.  If pop culture is to be believed, the most important person is: ME.

Review this list:

Survivor – A TV show that celebrates back-stabbing and conniving to get rid of others.

Big Brother – Much the same thing.

The Bachelor – Much the same thing.

The Bachelorette – Ditto.

Scan the headlines on magazines at the grocery store checkout, browse the “entertainment” news and there is one recurring theme:  Life is all about me and what I deserve.  This focus has led to average credit card debt per household of $15799.  That’s AVERAGE.

But according to L’Oréal’s famous advertising slogan  – “Because I’m worth it”

Unfortunately, I hate to tell you, you’re not that important.

Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t say it.

If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

Galatians 6:3 NLT

Sobering.

Where’s your focus?

Have you ever felt like this?

I have. I do.

I don’t draw much but just felt compelled to sketch the above image one day.

This year has been full of unexpected challenges to the point of feeling overwhelmed at times.  Each vine represents different things pulling me down and holding me captive.

Honestly, I don’t handle it the way I should at times.

How do you handle it?

Over time I will be republishing a number of posts that originally appeared on my first blog as a part of my Winning on Wednesday series.  Below is one of my all times favorities.

As a Christian, I believe we need to fly like God intended for us to. What does that mean? My kids got a book from their uncle for Christmas that has 10 different paper airplane designs. Each airplane design is different and gives that particular plane a special ability. Do you remember making paper airplanes as a kid? Each time you’d make one, you would make a slight change and then test the new design. Some planes would fly straight and far. Others would do loops or turns. Still others would glide gently over long distances.

Although these different paper airplane designs are different and accomplish different things, what do they have in common? All of these planes have one purpose – to fly. They also all have wings, a rudder of some sort and they share some aerodynamic qualities. I believe this is an analogy to our Christian life. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NLT)

God has given each of us, as Christians, a different spiritual gift. Just like the paper airplanes, we are all different. Here’s my first question. Since all these gifts are different, should we all be living for the same purpose? Let’s see what else Paul said to the Corinthians:

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (NLT)

It appears we have our answer, as Christians we may “fly” differently, but our purpose is the same – to serve God. More specifically, Paul points out that “we all share the same Spirit”. With that in mind, how should we view the spiritual gifts that God has given us? Let’s find out:

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

1 Corinthians 12:14-17 (NLT)

Just like each part of the human body is important, each spiritual gift is important. We should never minimize the gift that God has given us. He gave us that specific gift for a reason. As in the example Paul gave above, if all Christians had the gift of serving, where would the teachers come from. If all Christians had the gift of preaching, where would the singers come from. In my opinion, when we minimize the gift God has given us – effectively saying our gift is not as important as another – we are telling God that His plan is flawed. Would you want to do that?

I know that I have minimized the gifts God has blessed me with at some time in the past. That is a personal matter and I believe it may have more to do with placing confidence in ourselves instead of depending on God. But, looking at the gifts God has blessed others with, is my view of their gifts and talents ever flawed. Paul covers this as well:

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

1 Corinthians 12:18-21

I think the last two sentences sum it up pretty well, don’t you. One part of our body cannot tell another part it isn’t needed. The same should be true as Christians. If we are all part of the body of Christ, we are all necessary. Therefore, if we are all necessary, then the gifts God has given us are necessary as well. We shouldn’t take pride in our gifts being any more important than anyone else’s. In fact, I love the way Paul sums it up toward the end of Chapter 12:

Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not!

1 Corinthians 12:29-30 (NLT)

Fly like God intended. He gave you a specific Spiritual gift. Go with it and fly.

Philemon is one of those books in the Bible that you rarely hear from. There are two verses as the very beginning of the book that caught my eye.  The book of Philemon is a letter written by Paul to a fellow worker – Philemon.

I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.

Philemon 1:4-5 (NLT)

Did you catch that?  Paul, THE Paul (former killer of Christians turned into one of the most influential missionaries for Jesus EVER) was commending Philemon personally.

Bear in mind, Paul was writing this letter from prison.  He was writing this based on what he was hearing about Philemon – not just once but regularly, “because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people”(emphasis added by me).  The way Philemon lived out his faith was so noticeable that people talked about it enough that Paul heard about it.

What a way to live out your faith…enough that Paul took note.

What are people saying about your faith in Jesus and your love for others?