One Person at a Time...

40 Day Spiritual Journey...

Today marked an extremely important day for us at New Life:  The beginning of our 40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life.  I know from personal experience how important it is for each of us to give up control of our finances to God.  Over the years, God has provided so many blessings to our family, as we have committed to put Him first with our finances no matter what.  So many times it would have been so much easier if we had "cut back" in our giving to the Lord's work.  But we never considered it, because as we say so often at New Life, "Unless you seek first the kingdom of God, you won't seek the kingdom of God.  This morning I pointed out the challenge on page 9 of The 40 Day booklet by Brian Kluth, to everyone who doesn't currently give 10% or more of their income to the work of the Lord to take the "90 Day Test."  Simply put the "test" is to give 10% or more of your primary income to the work of the Lord in and through New Life for 90 days. If after 90 days you have no sense that God has blessed you in those three months, then stop. But if you sense God's blessing in it to continue.  If you weren't there today, or even if you aren't part of New Life, but are reading my blog, and don't yet give the first portion of your income to the work of the Lord through your local church, why not try the 90 day test yourself.  God's blessings as you bring this area of your life under His control!

Next Step #34

Next Step #34

Hi Everyone!

This week’s next step reminds us That the source of our strength as followers of Jesus is the “INNER STRENGTH” of the Holy Spirit:

¹⁴When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.  

Ephesians 3:14-21

NLT

     The Apostle Paul reminded the Ephesian Christians that as we rely on the Holy Spirit we will be strengthened from the INSIDE, and equipped to face whatever comes to us. What a promise he gives us—that Christ will “make his home in our hearts as we trust in him.” We will know that reality is taking place when we experience the width, length, height and depth of his love! This is no empty promise—each of us may know that reality as we let the Holy Spirit fill and indwell us. Remember, the concluding promise that “through his mighty power at work within us—His Spirit, we are able “to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” There is literally no limit to what God can do in and through us when we let HIM empower us. The key is to take seriously God’s word, and to LIVE it in the power of the Spirit!

Grace and peace,

Chris

p.s.   As always you may read this Next Step and any of the previous Next Steps on my blog at www.chrismarshall.typepad.com

Running Circles in the Snow

I decided to run my 3 miles on the track at Knoch High School today.  12 laps, no big deal, but the track was covered with about an inch of snow, which meant that I could see my footprints with each additional lap. The track is six lanes wide, and the way I keep track for a 3 mile run is to start on the inside lane, and move one lane outward with each progressive lap.  Today, I noticed that the longer I ran, the more it looked like a "crowd" of people had run on the track instead of just one.  That's what happens when you run in circles--you accumulate more and more tracks, giving the illusion of much activity, when in reality it's just one person running in circles.   My point?  If you're running in circles it doesn't really matter how many laps you make, you end up in the same place!  Of course, the analogy breaks down slightly here, since I DID get in my three miles, which was the "required" amount for today on my training schedule.  It's a lot more enjoyable to run from point "A" to point "B" on such a run, but then you either have to run back making it a six mile run, or you have to have someone pick you up, or you have to stay there for a day, and then run back the next day..... 

Looking at it another way, when I run, I pray.  Since I'm praying, I'm always aware of One other being with me.  Sometimes, I reflect on Hebrews 12 as I run, and remember that as I run there are myriads of "witnesses" who have gone on before me to their rewards in heaven who are "cheering" me on as I run (literally in this case) the "race" (figuratively) of life.  Today, the extra footprints that accumulated with each additional lap helped me envision those witnesses not only in the "stands" cheering me on, but right there with me.  Of course, I'm speaking figuratively here again, or am I?  The word does say that at times when we show hospitality to strangers we are entertaining angels unaware.  Who's to say that when I run and pray that an angel or two isn't there--not making footprints of course-- but you get the idea.  Jesus said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."  He doesn't.  So whether we're running circles in the snow, studying His word, driving down the road, praying, or WHATEVER we're doing, we can be sure that HE is with us, and that makes every task easier and every burden lighter!

Interesting Website: www.deathclock.com

Last night Nancy, Abby and I attended a worship service in Greensburg, PA, because Abby was going to miss worship today, because of a basketball commitment. The church was starting a 4-week series titled, "30 Days to Live."  The point of the message was -- If you only had 30 days to live, and you knew it, what would you do differently?  The pastor mentioned that he had come across an interesting website:  www.deathclock.com  If you go to the website and enter certain "personal information"--date of birth, gender, smoker/non-smoker status and BMI, the site will "calculate" your "deathdate."

The pastor mentioned that he tried it and came up with a specific date.  I came home last night and tried it out myself.  My "deathdate" came out to be April 14, 2053.  I'LL TAKE IT!  I'll be 96 years old, and April 14 happens to be my anniversay---plus, if I don't do my taxes, oh well!  Seriously, though, the pastor's point was no matter what some "death clock" may say, we don't know when our last day is coming.  Thus, EVERY day is vital.  The pastor's right! EVERY day IS vital.  the website is still fun, though.  The most interesting thing to me was the site gives you tips on how to "extend" your death date.  One of the ways is supposed to be by lowering your BMI if it's greater than 25. Mine's 28 right now, so I just arbitrarily put 25 into the death calculator again, and the year came out to be 2050!==3 years sooner!  So much, for all that running and praying I do!  If you're up for a laugh, and won't take it to seriously, try out the site--but remember:  we must learn to number our DAYS, and live each one for Jesus, if we have a heart of wisdom!

Marathon Update

I have unofficially decided to run my second marathon on Sunday, May 18, 2008 (if the Lord wills! [See James 4:13-17 or last Sunday's message!]) I've also decided to do my training with my long runs on Sundays, as the training schedule I'm using suggests.  Since the race is on a Sunday, it is better to train for a long run on Sunday.  Given that my "day job" requires Sunday work, that's going to be a challenge, but the longer runs don't really start until the days get longer, so it ought to work out.  Today was a 7 mile run, which as long runs go is quite short.  It happened that due to the basketball game being at 2:30, I wasn't able to get out to run until 4:00.  The timing couldn't have been better.  After the challenging task of reflecting Jesus as a basketball coach from 2:30-3:30, I needed to focus on the Lord, and release a little energy.  Both took place during the run.  Since I was running about a 9 minute pace today, that means I had a little more than an hour with the Lord as I ran.  I needed that block of time.  While ALL prayer times are important, today's was vital for me.  It helped me get focused on Jesus, and to establish His control for the week.  It allowed me to call on the Holy Spirit to fill and empower me that I may live out the fruit of the Spirit.  When I came home I was tired in a good way, and my spirit was right.  What does it take for you to get your spirit ready and ready for the week?  I pray you'll take the time to do it each day!

The Game...

At the close of worship today, I told you that the biggest "test" I was going to face today in living in the power of Jesus was at 2:30 p.m. when I coached my 8th grade girls team.  I told you that I'd had a great week--no anger whatsoever--not even once.  I told you the team we were playing was GREAT.  I didn't tell you that we have the same referees each week and they are--not so great.  The final score of the game was 53-9.  We did not win.  However, the coach was as under control as he has ever been.  I must be honest--I nearly blew it a few times, but your prayers HELPED!  I mean it.  I was able to focus on what the girls were doing right---which from the score you can tell wasn't too much.  I was able to put out of my mind that the other team's coach insisted on full court pressure all the way through the 3rd quarter when he had a huge lead from the first three minutes of the game.  I even kept my cool when I told the referee that he had to be kidding when one of our girls got knocked out of bounds as she was shooting and he didn't call a foul.  He responded, "She didn't touch her."  My response?  No response.  Thank you all for praying!  Thank you Jesus for being big enough to give me victory in the ordinary events of the day!  Remember, Jesus is big enough for the BIG and the small stuff in our lives, so put Him in charge of it all!

Next Step #33

This week’s next step reminds us that we don’t need to be CONTROLLED by our old, sinful nature.   Romans 8:9-17 is an amazing reminder that because of the Holy Spirit living us we have victory over sin. Read God’s promise below:

⁹But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) ¹⁰And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. ¹¹The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

¹²Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. ¹³For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. ¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

¹⁵So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Powerful, isn’t it!  When we give our lives to Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, we NO LONGER have any obligation to do what our sinful natures urge us. Certainly, we still can do those things, but we do not have to do them. Take some time right now to thank God that in His Spirit we have victory over sin, and then live into that promise!

Change Your Heart Change Your Life

Dr. Gary Smalley's latest book:  Change Your Heart Change Your Life may well be the most important book I've ever read outside of the Bible.  Notice I didn't say that it was the "best" book I've ever read.  The reason I used the phrase "most important" rather than best, is that the book calls us to change the firmly held beliefs of our hearts to coincide with God's truth in the Bible, and in doing that to see our lives change.  That is vitally important!

The book is amazingly practical and as I read it, I found myself saying time and time again, "I knew that, but he makes it so much clearer and DOABLE than I've ever seen it before."  Smalley's premise is that we become what believe in our hearts, and that those beliefs are put there by our parents, the world, or by God's word.  Beliefs develop by a continual repetition of thoughts--taking literally thousands of repetitions to become beliefs.   For example, if a child grows up hearing her parents say, "You aren't as smart as your brother" over and over again, eventually she believes it.  It becomes a belief in her heart, and she will assume that she is NOT as smart as her brother.  It doesn't matter whether that child trusts Jesus as Savior and Lord, or not, the belief of her inadequacy will remain.  That's because trusting Jesus brings salvation, but it doesn't AUTOMATICALLY bring a change of beliefs.  That takes "hiding" God's word in our hearts as the psalmist put it.  Smalley contends that we must replace the firmly rooted wrong beliefs in our hearts, with God-given beliefs from Scripture.  The book gives specific, doable instruction as to how this happens.

I'm already noticing changes in my behavior that have resisted change for years.  As I meditate on God's word, particularly on the words that address the negative behaviors that come out of my negative beliefs, I'm seeing the behavior change, and eventually that would become the norm, as my belief changes.  THANKS to Dr. Smalley for this outstanding book!

What Does It Mean to WIN?

In 1 Corinthians 9:24, the Apostle Paul wrote:  Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize?  So run to win! (1 Cor. 9:24 NLT)  So what does it mean to "win"?  That question occurred to me yesterday afternoon as I was running and praying.  I was having a challenging run.  The five miles seemed more like fifteen for some reason, and I felt like stopping to rest.  1 Corinthians 9:24 came to my mind.  I started turning it over and over in my mind.  I remembered that when I was 14 years old, and ran in my first varsity track meet, I competed in the mile run.  I ended up running a 5:09 and came in second place by just a few yards.  I didn't win, but it was the best I could do.  Today, there's no way I could run a 5:09 mile. Does that mean I'm a loser?  Paul's illustration makes it clear that WINNING is the goal of a race, and his point is that we ought to "run" the "race" of life to WIN.  I started thinking about various scenarios in life:  what about me as a 50 year old runner?  Can I really expect to WIN a race in which there are 20 year olds competing?  Of course not.  So what would a WIN be in that situation?  What about the person who is "tone deaf," and wants to WIN on American Idol.  If he or she doesn't come in first place, is that a loss?  What would a WIN be in that situation?  What about the child who is born with an IQ of 70.  Is he a loser, because he can't score well on the SAT's?  What would a WIN be for him?

The answer in each of these cases is:  a WIN would be offering the best I have to offer, and trusting the Lord to be the judge of the victory.  It means letting the Holy Spirit make up what we lack, and when we "cross the finish line" in whatever "race" we are running knowing that we trained well, we prepared as effectively as possible, and that we relied fully on God to empower us to be and do the best we can be.  When we do that, we WIN!  The world may not see it that way, but Jesus does, and at the end of the day we are "running" for an audience of ONE.  That's good news, isn't it?  It's great to win the race, but as Paul points out in his illustration, the prize is one that fades over time.  The REAL race, the race of life holds out a prize offered by God for those who run the race to WIN.  May each of us run in such a way that we WIN that prize!

This Sunday at New Life!

Join us on Sunday as we look at some of Jesus' most challenging words:   "Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven..."  The message title is "Talk is Cheap..." and we're going to consider the vital importance of ACTION in our lives as followers of Jesus.  As we continue our "Back to Basics" theme, nothing is more basic to us as Jesus' followers than DOING what He tells us to do!  I hope you'll be there Sunday!