Scripture
If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God! Acts 5:38-39

Observation
Pushing uphill or momentum. Both are movement but differ greatly. With plenty of panting a man can push a bolder up a mountain. But what is that compared to a rock slide?

There are good ideas and then there are God-ideas. Both can swirl with activity and acclaim. But the test is time. If the activity stops with the person who started it, it is just another good idea. But if the thing grows no matter who is in charge then God is on the move.

Application
In 46 years of living I’ve had some good ideas and occasionally swept up in a God idea. I know which I’d rather have. I know what I want today. So my prayer today must not be, “Lord, bless what I am doing.” Instead I must pray, “Lord, place me where you are blessing.” I want to be swept away in an avalanche bigger than I am.

Prayer
Father, it is not about me, it’s about You. Most of the time I forget that, but let that not be the case today. It’s all about You. Would you please introduce me to the God-idea you have for my life? No that’s a wrong prayer. Let me try again. Do this: show me the God-idea you have for the world and then let me get caught up in it. For if it is really You, it must be bigger than me. Please introduce me to the good works you have planned in advance for me to do. Amen.

From www.inkcinct.com.au

What the Bible Says
The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’ “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

“But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’ “‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.
Luke 19:16, 17, 20, 21, 26

What My Mind Thinks
What holds us back from becoming all that God has imagined us to be? It is our desire to play it safe. It’s the tendency to live with a passbook savings account mentality in a bull market economy.

The interest rate of Jesus is frankly out of this world. His rate of return doubles investments, or a 100% dividend rate. The only thing he asks of us is calculated risks. We are not to spend his resources, we are to invest them. We need to place them strategically in the hands of others where they can become greater. That requires thought, demands, foresight, trust and accountability.

But with returns of 100% we want to play it safe. Why? Because we are afraid not so much of failure as we are of disappointing God. “I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with….” Our ability to succeed in life depends on our perception of God’s face. If we we live with a fear of his scowl we will hide our nest egg under the mattress. But if we can capture something of the glee and merriment of God at our forward success we will look for opportunities and take them.

Years ago my aunt put a book in my hands with one quote that has changed my outlook. It comes from Annie Dillard’s Pulitzer Prize Winning Book, Pilgrim On Tinker Creek:

“There is always an enormous temptation in all of life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years on end. I won’t have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous and bitter, more extravagant and bright. We are making hay when we should be making whoopee; we are raising tomatoes when we should be raising Cain or Lazarus.”

How My Heart Acts
It is time for me to invest…with wisdom. Instead of the self-conscious life that worries what God will think with this or that, I must think of the joy I can bring to his heart by making the most he has given to me while there is yet time.

What My Spirit Prays
Father, today I want to be an investor of what you have given to me. Liberate me from the paralysis of bewilderment of options. Help me to discern the appropriate opportunities. And then hover over my investments with the Miracle Grow of the kingdom of God. The best is yet to come. Amen.

Listen to worship music while you read today’s entry.

Hillsong London Jesus is Above All

Scripture
“I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Observation
Though the Gospels fill pages of dialog, the four books come down to just a few sentences that Jesus spoke. Jesus spoke sentences so expansive that they can swallow up every plan I have for the next 40 years. These sentences are far longer and wider than the keystrokes that record them. These sentences move much further than the voice that speaks them. These sentences can over take our whole lives if we let them.

This last sentence of Jesus is his bottom line.

It’s so simple: disciples… baptize… teach… everywhere.

Application
This sentence is personal because it means the faces of people we know whose lives are changed by Christ. It is far reaching as it covers places I’ve never gone to yet. It is enormous because it would take the life times of many to fulfill. But once you have seen someone come to Christ, the joy of baptism, the wonderful change of character that a godly lifestyle brings you couldn’t do anything less.

These simple sentences of Jesus are so different from what surrounds us. Life is so complex, but Jesus makes it simple. I must lose my life in these last words of Jesus.

Prayer

Father, today, I renew my covenant to be faithful to the call of the gospel and to communicating that well. I see that what really matters are these simple sentences. Help me to lose my life in these as thoroughly as you would like me to do. I ask this for the sake of Jesus. Amen.