Guest Post: Enthusiasm Outshines Ability

Enthusiasm Outshines Ability

My six year old son started playing soccer. He doesn’t quite know what he’s doing and the rules are a bit confusing to him, but he has stellar passion and enthusiasm for the game. His smile stays fixed on his face; and when he or his team mate makes a good play, he cheers and hollers. His passion spreads to the other team mates and his coach. They all get excited over seemingly simple moves. This passion -- placed in him by a family that continuously exposes his significance -- gives him power and strength to play hard and overcome his limitations and lack of skill.

When I see my son play, I think of the servant who was given five talents (Matthew 25.14-30). He was given more than the other two servants according to his abilities. I always believed that the servant was given more talents because he was more skilled; however, I know that skill does not necessarily ensure a person’s productivity. When you read the end of the parable, you find that the Master does not become upset because of the one-talent servant’s lack of ability; rather, it was the servant’s laziness that angered the Master.

When I researched the word ability, I discovered that it means something very different. The Greek word for ability is dynamis, which means power. It is the same word used to illustrate the power that surged through Jesus’ body when the woman from the crowd touched his clothes and was healed (Mark 5.30). Dynamis has little to do with a person’s skill-set but has everything to do with the power residing in the person. That power comes from the Holy Spirit who lives in Christians once we have the covering of Jesus’ righteousness.

We as Christians all have the power of the Holy Spirit residing in us, but it stays untapped until our passion for Christ unleashes it. When our actions follow our passion, we can accomplish anything that God has for us. We don’t have to be skilled or smart. In fact, God says that he uses foolish things to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1.27). We just have to want to be used by the Holy Spirit, want to do more for the Kingdom of God, want to be endowed with more responsibility. We need to WANT more of Him!

The coach put my son in the game not because he’s a skilled player, but because my son wants to play. His passion usurps his ability. I believe if we all fully understood the significance that God places on us, we too would be passionate about His plan for our lives. And instead of being content with just one or two talents, we would beseech more from the Master. We might not have the amazing abilities that others have; but what we lack in ability, we make up for in enthusiasm.

“I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2.3-5 NIV).

Paul himself was scared to do the things of God, but he did not let that stop him. He relied on the Spirit of God inside of him to accomplish God’s mighty work. Paul’s life is an amazing example of living with the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul might not have been the most eloquent speaker, but he wanted to be used by God. He was passionate about running a good race, and he was obviously a five-talent servant. We all can be five-talent servants if we are passionate for God and His Kingdom.

You can also read this article at Jan Christiansen's blog, Refreshed by the Word!

I'm Recruiting

Recruiting Time

When I imagine heaven, I see myself flying in some kind of exploration-cruiser, traveling through more of God's amazing creations. Even on this earth, scientists are discovering new creations all the time; and I believe this earth (as magnificent and beautiful as it is) is only a small portion of what our God can create. Heaven is not going to be a boring space of emptiness with nothing but a harp and a cloud. Heaven is going to be an adventure with amazing exploits and discoveries to be made!

I get excited thinking about my team of explorers traveling with me in heaven. I have no idea what we will be doing, but I do know it will be important and adventurous. God's eternal plan is beyond my comprehension; but if it's anything like it is on earth, it is bound to be exciting (Matthew 6.10).

As I considered all of this, I felt God tell my spirit, "Well, you better start recruiting your team."

Recruiting my team....?

That's when it hit me. There are millions of people who don't see heaven as I do. They long for something more than this physical life, their souls want to live forever, but they have no idea that there is a spiritual world. If I want people to join me in heaven, I better recruit them on earth (Matthew 16.19).

Humans are half-breeds. We are half flesh and half spirit. We have become very good at strengthening our physical lives, but our spiritual lives are starving. The sad truth is that our physical selves die. We walk over the graves of our ancestors just has our children will walk over ours. This life is just a brief vapor (James 4.14), which is kind of depressing if that's all we're clinging to and hoping in.

So if our physical bodies die, why aren't people embracing the other half of their existence? The answer is they don't understand Jesus.

Earth's Mission

God is a Creator (Genesis 1). He created us to give us life, love and a purpose. God created a perfect world and placed His beautiful half flesh/half spirit people in it (Genesis 2.7). However, instead of forcing our obedience, He gave us free-will.* We have the ability to choose God, which is our ultimate show of devotion. The ability to choose automatically corrupts God's perfect creation because many times we don't align ourselves with our perfect God.

Because God exists, the absence of God exists. Everything is defined by its absence. The absence of heat is cold. The absence of light is dark (Genesis 1.3-5). God dwells in heaven and the absence of God is hell. God is 100% perfect and His creations are perfect. However, because we are given a choice, His perfect creation becomes imperfect. God knew this would happen.

Since we are no longer perfect, we can no longer dwell with our perfect God in heaven. We are now separated from our Creator because our choices are flawed -- we all make mistakes. If God allows us to be a part of Him, He too will become corrupt. One hundred percent perfection cannot mix with anything less than perfect or else it too will become corrupt. This is no surprise to God, and He already had the answer -- Jesus.

Jesus lived the perfect life in our corrupted world and took our sin, so that we could wear His righteousness and stand before our perfect God (Romans 5.19). Jesus is the answer to the consequence of our bad choices with free-will. If we want to be a part of all the awesome exploits that God has planned for us in heaven, we better be wearing the righteousness of Jesus. God is all love, all knowing, all power, all glory, all good; and I don't want to exist away from Him. I don't know exactly what hell will be like, but the absence of God sounds lame to me.

The Answer

Language is our gift from the Creator, and our words are eternal. They might be formed in the physical world, but they make their way to the everlasting spiritual world. Words are tools that create. There is power in what we say. Jesus said that all we have to do is confess that He is Lord and we will be saved (Acts 2.21). All we have to do is admit our sin, and ask Jesus to take our separation from God, and His righteousness can be ours. Our faith in Jesus creates a bridge to God that joins the void of our separation caused by sin due to our bad choices we committed with our free-will.

Once we have Jesus' righteousness, we can now be in heaven and fulfill the amazing eternal plans of God because we are now supernaturally clothed in the 100% perfection of Jesus (Galatians 2.16). Jesus is our answer to everlasting life with a perfect God. In one hand, we are given free-will through the Tree of Knowledge; but in the other hand, we are given the Tree of Life through Jesus (Revelation 22.14).

Once we use our words and claim Jesus' righteousness (perfection), the Spirit of God dwells in us (Mark 1.8 & John 20.22). This is the coolest part of being a Born Again Christian, and it's kind of weird at first. All of a sudden, we have God's perfect Spirit inside of us, guiding us (John 14.26); but it takes time to get to know Him. We have to commune with Him like Jesus did. Jesus took time to pray often during His time on earth (Mark 1.35). It's like any relationship: We must cultivate it so we can get to know God and benefit from His love. But we have to have Jesus' redemptive covering for our perfect Creator to dwell in us.

Once we have the Holy Spirit, we can now fully understand God's creation through the Bible. Many people read the Bible and only see historical documents. But the living, breathing part of the Bible is closed to them. The Holy Spirit illuminates the Bible and applies it to our lives and situations (Acts 4.31). If we don't have Jesus and the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual aspect of the Bible is dead (Hebrews 4.12). So when we talk to non-Christians about spiritual and eternal things, we need to first explain Jesus. Otherwise, we might be wasting their time and our energy.

So I'm recruiting. I might not have a lot to say or give, but I have the only thing that counts: I have the answer to the world's separation from their creator. I have Jesus. I want people to join me on my exploration-cruiser and go on many exploits in heaven with me. I want people to be united back to their Creator. I want people to finally fill that emptiness that they have grown accustomed to. There is so much more to this life than the material aspects of this world. We have eternity to live. My eyes are set on heaven. Will you join me?

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28.19-20 NIV).

* Free-will is illustrated in Genesis 2 when God allowed Adam and Eve to be confronted with the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. They had a choice even though the Creator told them that eating from the Tree of knowledge would cause their separation from Him (death).

ST Publication: Measure of a Woman

Below is my article that is published in the Sanctified Together Email & Online Publication's July Issue: Measure of a Woman! We have many beautiful articles written by Christian women who desire to find their measure in God alone.

We will be sending this publication via email one more time next Sunday. If you would like to receive this free publication produced every three months or if you would like to contribute, please sign up to receive updates here.

I welcome you to read the other amazing articles found in our publication here. You can also download and print the publication by going here.

5 Lbs of Grace

I had been avoiding the scale for several weeks, but I finally decided to weigh myself and account for the damage. Yep, I had gained 5 lbs. My weight always fluctuates. I think it enjoys making me mad, happy or sad based on its movements; it likes to show off its control over me.

Normally when I gain weight, I focus all my attention and efforts on the unwanted pounds. I lose all my peace and joy, and every aspect of my daily life is affected. I'm determined to lose the weight at all cost.

As my mind started its downward spiral of negative and distracted thoughts, God told me, "They don't make a difference."

"What?" I asked. I was really tired of this cycle, and I was willing to hear what God had to say.

"Those 5 lbs you are worrying about make absolutely no difference in your life. They don't affect how people see you, they don't affect your health and they don't affect your destiny. They are meaningless."

After God gave me the truth about my 5 lbs, I finally found freedom. I didn't want to waste my energy over a few pounds because I'm busy enough doing things that have purpose. Why would I misuse my time on something that is insignificant? I felt light as a feather, though I was 5 lbs heavier!

In my new found freedom, I got dressed. I didn't even worry about the fact that my jeans were a tad snugger around my waist. Since my mind was freed up to think about more important things, I started focusing on God's promises for me. My thoughts instantly started exploring what I needed to do in order for God to finally fulfill His plan in my life.

God said almost cheekily, "They don't make a difference."

"What?" I asked. If God had more freedom for me, I wanted it.

During my entire adult life, I have struggled with trying to humble myself more, trying to learn more, trying to shed more sin, trying to focus on God more. I've wanted to do everything in my power, so I could prove to God that I was ready to receive His promises. Without knowing it, though, I was basing God's promises on what I was doing.

God said, "Nothing you could ever do would make you deserve the promises that I have for you. My promises will always be too great for you to achieve. I give them freely to you because of who I am and because I love you."

Talk about freedom! All my efforts could never secure God's blessings, so I can quit worrying about proving myself all the time. God blesses me because of what He has done, not what I have done. All I need to do is focus on staying in God's will. If I am in the center of His purpose, God will accomplish His plans for me. I simply need to cooperate with Him.

I also realized that God gives all of us 5 lbs of grace. When you look at an imperfect woman and wonder why she's getting blessed, just remember that she has 5 lbs of grace. And the same goes for you. If you see your imperfections and wonder how God could ever bless you, just remember that God has 5 lbs of grace for you too. All of us make mistakes. None of us deserve God's blessing. I don't care how perfect you are or how perfect you think she is. Our efforts are meaningless compared to God's perfection. We all deserve death if It wasn't for Christ!

Christians can claim God's grace, and that is why we can boldly go to the throne! God has an amazing life for us, and He gives it to us freely. We just have to be available and willing to receive it. Finally, 5 lbs we can all rejoice about!

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2.8-9 NIV).

BTW, we are having an author signed book giveaway through the Sanctified Together Publication. To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment or email us at sanctifiedtogether@gmail.com.