Validation

“Stop seeking validation from a world that crucified a perfect man.”

The first time in Scripture Jesus heard the words, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17), He said nothing. He got a “thattaboy” right before heading into battle with Satan. He needed validation for who He was (My Son) and the direction His life was going (well pleased).

It was the same for the second time Jesus heard those words as He was about to face His biggest challenge yet – going to the cross (Matt. 16:21; 17:5).

As a human, Jesus needed to hear that someone was proud of Him. As a child, He may or may not have heard them from his step-father Joseph or Mary, His mom. We don’t know. But we do know He heard those words of validation from His Heavenly Father.

We all need validation. The question is, “Where do we seek it?” I could give a litany of ways that you, myself and others seek the validation that we are okay, loved and heading in the right direction. But they all have one thing in common – broken human beings who may fail in this department.

Yet, for those who have put their faith in what Jesus did for them on the cross, we have a Father who is perfect in this department, if only we’d listen to and believe what He says. We are loved – period. We are accepted – period. We are His children – period. And, we’ve been given a purpose for living. And, as we do it in His power, will hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

God at times will bring this validation Himself. But there will also be opportunities for Him to use you. You can catch someone doing something right and say, “I’m proud of you. Good job, keep going, you’re heading in the right direction, even if times are tough.” And when they ask why, tell them.

We all crave it. We all need it. So why not let Him send His words through you? Those very words may be what someone needs to hear at that very moment to keep moving forward today, one step at a time.

Hear Him now. He’s proud of you! Why? You’re reading this instead of endlessly scrolling on your phone. Keep listening to your Father’s words of validation either through His voice directly or through someone like you and me.

Happy Tubing!

There is a path that leads to life.

Before you lay a great hill for tubing covered in a few feet of fresh powder snow. With a determined look, you hop on your tube, stomach down, slowly making your way down the hill without smashing your face into a tree through creating a new path in the snow.

You’re covered in snow, but smiling. Now, with each run on that new path, you will go faster and cleaner. Why? You packed and removed snow that brought resistance against the tube.

This is a wonderful picture of true Jesus life change. To defeat the thoughts causing resistance to change (anti-God “strongholds, arguments and pretensions”), you have to create new neural pathways in your brain to replace the old pathways that led to face planting into a tree.  

You’ll need to know two things to do this: 1) the lie(s) in your head that created the face smashing neural pathway; and 2) the truth from God’s word that sets you free from that lie to create a new smiling at bottom of the hill neural pathway.

Once the Spirit gives you this truth, it’s time to verbally and mentally rehearse that truth (“do not let it depart from your mouth”) throughout your waking hours (“mediate on it day and night”), which creates and reinforces that new neural pathway. This pathway then deepens with each choice to stay on it (“be careful to do everything written in it” and ”take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ”).

Every time you rehearse and act on this truth, your brain is being rewired to take the new path. After a while, this will be your automatic choice because your old character will have been transformed into Christ’s character due to this deep neural pathway in your brain (“transformed by the renewing of your mind” Rom. 12:2).

True life change is not easy, but possible as we shift our focus from changing our behavior to changing the thinking behind our behavior (Josh. 1:8; 2 Cor. 10:3-5).   

Want the smiles and victories that come with becoming like Jesus? Ask the Spirit of Truth for the truth you need to rehearse throughout your waking hours to create a new neural pathway to victory in your brain.

And as you do, happy sledding!

Actually Be Together

All parts of a jigsaw puzzle are put together to see the entire picture.

This past Sunday, after the service, I was drawn into a conversation. As someone was sharing, the Lord was speaking to my heart. At first, however, I thought their word was only for them. Then, after realizing it was for me too, I apologized and took it to heart.

What would have happened if they hadn’t come to be church, let alone be at the service?

David says that it is “good and pleasant when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps. 133:1) The unity is Jesus, as we all want to love Him more. Dwell is to sit down and have a conversation, both of which was happening; and, could only happen if we were actually in the same room together.

It’s interesting that research continues to discover what God already wrote down. In this case, those with a solid support group handle tough times a lot easier. In order to subdue or put Satan in his place, God made two people – Adam and Eve – not one.

When we fall down, God writes that two are better than one so the one standing can help the fallen one up. And of course, He penned the word Church, which means a group of people moving toward Jesus together. Even the secular world recognizes this, “You can go faster alone, but further with others.”

We need like-minded followers of Christ to be instruments in our lives, especially when the Spirit is giving a nugget of truth to us that He’s already lived it out in their lives.

Who is part of your support system in becoming like Jesus? Someone who will tell you the truth you need to hear, not just what you want to hear?

Pick your group. It doesn’t have to be lots, but it must be some (“two or three are gathered in My name”). Pick your day to meet and when. It doesn’t have to be Sunday, but it has to be sometime. Then listen up. The Lord just may use them to give you truths that will set you free to experience all the love, joy and peace that He has for you…today. 

Watch Your Pronouns

God loves it when we are satisfied with Him.

“It’s my life.” How often do we say those words? As a believer in Jesus, though, is it your life?

Think about that for a minute. It was your life before you came to faith in Jesus. Recognizing that truth, you must now ask, “What was my life like when it was mine?”

In all honesty, if your life was humming along based on your efforts and reasoning, you’d probably never have recognized your need for a savior and turned to Jesus in the first place.

Yet, it was only as we realized that our lives were not working as we’d hope; or, our reasoning came to the conclusion that we were missing something, no matter how “good” we may have had it, we turned to Jesus. He alone brought wholeness/salvation to our brokenness through His death on the cross.

And not only does He now own us, but He also becomes the missing puzzle piece that guarantees true life today and throughout eternity. He alone does this, not me or I.

The moment I put my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior, it was no longer my life, but His life. Today, however, it’s all about my life, my body, my truth, my thinking, and my choice, even in His Church!

Yet, Jesus didn’t say to His followers, “Hey, do whatever you feel is the right thing for you.” No, He said, “Why do you call me ‘Lord’, but don’t do what I say?” (Lk. 6:46) There is no wiggle room nor my in that sentence.

In fact, He goes onto to give us the why of doing what He says: He is preparing us to successfully handle what only He can see – tomorrow’s storms.

He earned the right to tell us what to do. So, be careful of your pronouns. You become what you focus on – His life or my life? The seal in the picture got it. Hopefully, you and I do too.

Programmed vs Possessive Faith

Walk with Jesus with a lightly held to-do list.

Martha had a programmed faith as seen by the fact that she couldn’t sit still. She was so stressed over getting things done that her face was contorted in anger (‘distracted’).

Mary had a possessive faith that allowed to get what “needed to be done” and then sat at Jesus’ feet with a face of wonder and contentment.

Martha was so busy with her to-do lists of food preparation that when she couldn’t get it all done, wham, she confronted Jesus about it. “You don’t care about me!”

She verbally threw up all over Him because she was carrying around a list so long that she forgot why the food was even necessary in the first place, Jesus her guest.

Mary, on the other hand, was caught between two worlds and finally chose to possess her faith and sit. The phrase “left me to do the work” shows that Mary was struggling between the job of hosting with the purpose of hosting. She kept running back and forth between helping her sister and being with and listening to Jesus that she finally sat and just listened.

A programmed faith means there are things one must do in order to be with and please God. Yet, it forgets that Jesus already met the standard of what needed to be done to be brought into God’s presence in the first place.

A programmed faith creates its own to-do list of things to be done each day, which over time leads to frustration, just like it did for Martha until she made it Jesus’ fault. Programmed faith leaves you exhausted because there is always more to done or at least feels like God demands more.

A possessive faith is not about the list! It’s doing what He’s told you do while being with Him as you do whatever He’s told you to do. And guess what? He can add or subtract from that list and take you on all kinds of unexpected turns, like sitting at His feet.

Why? Because it’s not about the list, but the Creator of the List – Jesus. It’s about listening to and following Him to places and people that you never expected to go that bring a sense of excitement, not frustration and rejuvenation not exhaustion.