Finding Him Everyday

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of meeting one of the greatest superstars in country music. . . Almost. A friend of mine introduced me to her new husband, who happened to be a Willie Nelson impersonator. His stage name is Almost Willie and he is really good at what he does. Once he even beat the real Willie Nelson in a look-a-like contest.

We took him out to dinner and everyone was staring and whispering. Finally, our waitress had to ask, “Are you Willie Nelson?” He smiled, gave a wink and said, “Almost.”

After meeting Almost Willie, I was struck by the amount of time, energy and research that had to go into creating that persona. He learned to play like Willie. He memorized Willie music. He even went so far as to sand a hole in his guitar so that it matched the one Willie wore into his.

This all got me to think, why don’t we spend more time, energy and research in our personal lives so that we can be more like Jesus? Now I am not advocating that we should all go out, buy togas or sandals, grow out our hair and wander around the countryside teaching parables. But we are instructed by Paul to “be imitators of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1).
Imitating Christ has less to do with dress and outward appearances. It has more to do with doing the things that Jesus did, loving people the way that Jesus loved people.

Tom Steller says, “We become like those whom we admire.” If we want to be more Christlike it is a matter of both the heart and focus. Love is a choice, and we must choose to love Jesus with intensity. This has nothing to do with how loud or demonstrative your worship is. It is about determining that you will love no one, or no thing, with the depth and the passion that you love your Lord. When was the last time you took a moment just to admire Jesus? Not as a part of a church service, but as a part of your daily life.

In terms of focus we need to ask, “How am I spending my time?” It is easier to imitate celebrities because our society makes it easier for us to focus on them. We have to be intentional about turning off the stimuli from time to time and turning on prayer, Bible study and fasting.

If I am going to be serious about this, I have to ask myself, “When was the last time that I was mistaken for Jesus?”

I pray that someday I would get so good at imitating Jesus, that I would be such an avid admirer of His, that someone would stop me on the street and ask, “Are you Jesus?” I’ll smile, give a wink and say, “Almost.”

“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

Those of you who follow church tradition closely know that there are two very important days this week: Ash Wednesday and Fat Tuesday.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lent season, a forty day period of fasting that comes before the Easter week. It is a time where people in the past have given up certain foods and activities to prepare their hearts for the Easter season.

Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, is the last day before Lent. Unfortunately, it is historically viewed as one last day of sin and indulgence before the Lent fast (although now it is more of an excuse to sin than anything else).

As a Christian, we are expected to fast. It is a discipline that is sometimes lost in the 21^st century church, but it is still something that is expected. Jesus did not say “if you fast” but “when you fast. . .” He gave us instructions for when we fast because He expected that we would fast. So, churches throughout the last 2000 years have proclaimed fasts and God-fearing men and women observed those fasts as well as self-imposed fasts.

The problem with Fat Tuesday comes from fasting out of a sense of religious duty. When we fast because we feel forced into it, we only do it so that other people will see us as religious. Jesus said that type of fasting does not please God. “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:16, NKJV).

We need to change our attitude about fasting. Instead of looking at it as a duty, we need to see it for what it is: a privilege! When my wife wants to go out on a date with me, I don’t think about all the things I would have to give up to go on the date. I don’t tell her, “You know, I could be washing the car or balancing the checkbook, but since spending time together is expected in marriage, I suppose we can go out on a date. Besides, other people will think I’m a good husband then.”

No. If my wife wants to go on a date, I find time. I schedule it. I make sure all distractions are pushed out of the way so that we can spend quality time together. Because when you are in a loving relationship with someone, intimate time together is important.

That is what fasting is - intimate time with God. Pushing aside those things that distract us from Him, chiefly our own flesh, and getting in close with Jesus. That is when it is not a religious duty, but a relational privilege. You won’t need a Fat Tuesday to indulge before a fast, because you will so long for that time together with Jesus. And when you are doing it will be because you love Him, “then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you” (Matthew 6:18, NKJV).

(If you would like a good, practical guide to Lent, please check out this link. It has a good explanation of Lent as well as a great devotional that can be followed through the coming weeks—complete with Scriptures, prayers and practices that will help make it a meaningful time. If you are interested in fasting, I would highly recommend anything that Bill Bright has written on the subject. We have some links to his materials on another part of our site)

I hate losing. If you want to see things get ugly in a hurry, beat me in a game of Trivial Pursuit. Watching the Bears lose the Super Bowl last Sunday was tough too (I’m a HUGE Bears fan). In a perfect world I would always be right, and the Bears would always win—Okay that’s a dream world, sorry.

All that aside, I want to win. I want to succeed. All the time! Don’t you?

This summer, when I first heard about the vote that would take place in South Dakota, I felt very strongly that God wanted me praying and fasting about the abortion ban. I spent a lot of time doing just that. The night of November 7, I was glued to the website that would show the vote results. As the night went on, it became increasingly obvious that the ban would fail.

I felt crushed. I remember feeling like a failure. Thoughts went through my head like, “I spent all that time praying and fasting, and nothing! What a waste!”

That’s when the Holy Spirit pulled me up short.

God began to remind me of special times in prayer we had during those past four months. Things He had stirred in me. Things He had changed in me. Things He had revealed to me. I became more aware than ever before that when you walk with God, the outcome really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you are walking with Him.

Being a Christian does not guarantee that we will have an easy life or that everything will go our way. Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something. One of the things Jesus promises us is that things won’t always go our way. He said, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. . .” Thankfully He did not leave it at that, “But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NLT).

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NKJV, emphasis added).

Will we always win? No. But when you devote your life to following Jesus, even defeats can become victories. If we let Him, God takes all things (victory or defeat, happiness or pain), works them together with His purpose and in the end we become more like Jesus.

The key is turning it over to God. If you fail, confess it. If you feel defeated, be honest about it. If things are going good rejoice in it and let God rejoice with you.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how defeated we may feel, if we are becoming more like Jesus then. . .

We win. We succeed. All the time!

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, NIV).

Have you ever wondered what it means to say that the Word of God is living and active? Well, I wonder about weird stuff like that all the time. It’s not like my Bible has hands and feet. If I ask it to make me breakfast, it pretty much just ignores me. As a matter of fact, when I set it on the couch, it just sits there until I pick it up again (unless my one year old decides to hide it from daddy).

So how exactly can it be said that it is “living and active?”

I think that the Bible’s life and activity should not be measured by what it does, but by what it does in us. Think about it. From the time in which the first phrases of Scripture were captured, to this very day, the Bible has been changing people’s lives.

All of us are thousands of years removed from the time in which these words were written. Many of us are thousands of miles removed from the places mentioned in the Bible. And how many of us really understand the culture and customs of the Israelites, Egyptians, Canaanites, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans (not to mention all the other civilizations mentioned in the Bible) of about 3000 B.C. through A.D 100?

Yet for as much as we are removed by time, distance and culture, the Bible still affects us today. I don’t mean it just makes us think but it really changes us. It is alive and it actively changes us because God breathed His life into it. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV-emphasis added). “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (Isaiah 55:10-11, NLT).

The next time you pick up your Bible, don’t just speed read it like some high school assignment. Take time to examine what you are reading. Ask questions of His Word. Most importantly ask, “How can I apply this to my life?” Then lean in close, and let the living and active breath of God speak to your heart and change your life.

Janus is the Roman god of gates, doors, and doorways, the god of beginnings and endings. He was often depicted as having two faces. One that faced forward and one that faced behind. Pretty cool, huh?!

You are probably most familiar with Janus because of his modern namesake, January. January is a doorway; in it we often look back on the last year and forward to a new one.

When He designed us, God only gave us one face. Having only one severely limits our vision and our direction. The only way we can move forward with any kind of certainty is to face forward. Sure, you can glance behind yourself while walking forward, but if you focus on what is behind you, you will most likely run into a tree or a car or a hippopotamus—it could happen.

It is dangerous to focus on what is behind you when you are moving forward.

This is a physical truth as well as a spiritual one. “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14, NKJV).

Our past is important because it shapes us and teaches us. But when we are stuck in the past, it cripples us. Remember the words of Nick Portokalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “Don’t let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become. . . . Yeah that Dear Abby really knows what she’s talking about.”

This new year I have a choice. I can focus on the past. I can focus on past hurts, pains, or disappointments. Or I might focus on something even more damaging and deceitful. . . I can focus on past victories or successes. It seems nobler but it is just as dangerous. Because when I focus on the victories of the past, I fail to seek victory for today.

Or I can choose to reach forward to those things which are ahead.

There is much uncertainty that comes with any new year. But of this I am certain: God has great things in store for you and me in 2007. Whether or not we recognize His blessings and are able to receive them depends largely upon whether we are looking ahead or behind.

I’m looking ahead. Are you?

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:8-11, NKJV; emphasis added)

Joy is a funny concept. So often it is synonymous with happiness. Happiness is an emotional response to favorable conditions. Joy is so much more than that. The angels were not announcing the coming of an emotion, they were declaring the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the great joy. He embodied it!

I do not believe that joy is an emotion as much as it is a character trait. It is listed among the fruit of the Spirit, and none of them are based on our emotions. As Christians we are to strive to be kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled no matter what the circumstances are around us. Our emotions are expected to be brought under the submission to these character traits. These traits are freely given by the Spirit of God to every believer as we strive to be more like Jesus.

Possibly one of the most amazing passages in all the Bible is Hebrews 12:2, which declares we are to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. . .” (NKJV; emphasis added). Let me tell you, there is nothing happy or favorable about dying on a cross. Yet it was joy that gave Christ the ability to endure the cross. WHAT?!?!?

Jesus was able to face the cross with joy because He knew that the cross was the reason He was born. Jesus had joy because He was fulfilling God’s purpose for His life. And that is how we receive His joy. Nehemiah 8:10 declares that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (NKJV). This was a message to people who were fulfilling God’s call on their lives.

Do you want great joy? Give your heart to Jesus, allow the work of Jesus Christ to have place in your life and then seek out and fulfill that for which you were uniquely created.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior today, let us remember that this great joy, which will be to all people, is Jesus. Joy is who He is. Joy is what He has done for us. Let that Joy affect who you are and what you will do for Him.

I think one of the greatest problems we have in living out our faith as Christians, is the tendency to make things way too complicated. If we could just pray 25 hours a day, read through the entire Bible in one sitting, or fast for 4 months straight, maybe then we would be the kind of Christians God wants us to be. But I have a revelation for you: God loves YOU! He is not in love with the things you can do for Him, but He is deeply and passionately in love with you. Our devotion needs to be centered on our love for Him. Plain and simple. We pray because we love Him. We read our Bibles and fast because it draws us closer to Him.

How many of you have ever tried too hard to win someone’s affection or had someone try too hard to win yours? Even if you like someone, when he or she goes overboard in his or her attempts to “win you,” it normally does not produce a sense of affection. It may produce pity or disgust. Often it produces a restraining order. If you have to provide or produce something in order to receive romance, it is not romance at all. It is prostitution. Now love will spur you to action, but out of a sense of love for that person. I remain faithful to my wife, not because I made a vow to her in the past, but because I love her right now and would never want to do anything that would cause her pain. I do good things for her because I enjoy blessing her, not because I think it is necessary to win her love.

Praying more will not make God love you more. Reading your Bible more does not make you better in His eyes. Religious activity apart from a loving relationship with Jesus produces nothing. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NKJV; emphasis added)

If you can only find five minutes to pray today, take joy in the fact that you get to spend five minutes with your Creator and the Lover of your soul. If you only have the time to read a few verses of Scripture today, read it with the same longing that one reads a long awaited love-letter. Find pleasure in your relationship with Jesus today. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in Him!” (Psalm 34:8, NLT) And as you do, that sweet taste of the love of God will draw you back for more.