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Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV).
January 3oth is my birthday! An important day — for me, at least.
It’s very snowy (a level three emergency) and I’m stuck at home as I write this blog a few days before my actual birthday. I’m reflecting on the top three lessons Jesus has taught me. They are…
Live by Faith
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13, NLT).
All my adventures through five decades of following Jesus began with faith.
I learned early that “your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5, ESV), which means keeping in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) and often doing things that make no sense to others and initially no sense to me either.
In January 1972, after accepting Jesus and leading dozens to know Jesus, I became a believer and a ministry leader in the same month. Not typical for most Christian leaders. For years, I said that I would never go on a mission trip overseas, and now I’ve been on over 100. (I know God has a sense of humor.)
Faith matures.
While young, I ignored circumstances to charge forward. With age, I’ve butted heads enough with the difficulties that result from quick decisions, that I pause a bit now before proceeding, but I am still determined to walk from faith to faith and beginning to end in my life with Jesus (Romans 1:17).
Listen More and Often
I’ve learned two things about listening — you can’t listen enough, and I don’t listen well. Memorizing James 1:19 decades ago, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,” I would gauge my success at applying this verse about four out of ten.
I now enjoy listening more and get tired of talking too much. Helpful for conversations has been my realization that there are only three types of conversations — about emotions, about “how to” and facts, and about deep-to-deep issues of life.
I try to discern the type of conversation I’m having and engage on that level, asking lots of questions, especially when I encounter someone with a job or an expertise I know little about. But admittedly, I get easily bored after asking others questions, and they don’t respond with questions about me.
Quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, and ask lots of questions.
Generosity
There is nothing closer to God’s heart than generosity. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “God loves a cheerful giver.” We can never outgive God. We don’t make a mistake if we give and someone abuses the gift, because the reward of giving softens our heart.
God supplies ample opportunities to be generous, yet we often ignore or overlook them.
Fear and anxiety are the spiritual strongholds of this age, and generosity is the antidote. I read Corrie Ten Boom telling this story years ago, “I ran a re-hab center for those emotionally and spiritually wounded by World War II. At our center, we gave each person a plot of land on which to grow vegetables. I knew the person was healing when they began to share their crop of vegetables with others.”
Don’t Feel Bad about forgetting my birthday or not sending me a gift. LOL! My gift to you today, on January 30th (a very important day), can be summed up in three words — faith, listen, and generosity.