From Todd |
| Posted by RH Admin (rhadmin) on Jul 12 2008 at 5:38 PM |
The book of Philippians reminds us that our Father will continue the work he began in us until we leave these earthly bodies. It is a truth that sometimes comfort us and sometimes frightens us. But if you really believe that the creator of heaven and earth is actively working in your life to help you become Holy people, you must at least have a sense of excitement over what He may do next. For me it has become a strange mixture of hurt and comfort to experience his active work in my life. I know that there is major elements of my life that need my Fathers attention, but I am continually surprised at the depth of the sinfulness that is within me. I remember a man once telling me that the closer he came to Jesus the more he was aware of his own lack of conversion.
From my early childhood until the present, I have lived my life with a deep desire to please people. For the first 30 years I was an athlete and a student. Both of these consuming activities gave me an opportunity to work hard and perform and in the end receive a grade or a score. I was trained to live for what other people wanted to see. My life was consumed with finding out what people wanted to see and hear in me and then I would beat myself into that image. What a contrast this is to the life of following Jesus. I have discovered that this pattern has become dangerously close to the way I seek to do ministry. The Bible speaks of the end times being filled with teachers who will tell people what there itching ears want to hear. I have never been accused of being this type of teacher but I do struggle with my desire to be commended by those who are around me. In 2 Corinthians 10 we hear Paul rebuke the religious people of that day because they used the opinions of others as a gauge of how they were doing
This last weekend I was the main attraction at a city wide outreach event in Idaho Falls. The event gave out free food and tons of great activities for the public. It drew about 4 - 5 thousand people and was a great time for our community and the families that attended. My part in the event required me to break a horse and give the gospel. This presentation typically takes about an hour but this day it took nearly 4 hours. Although the message went out and many people were blessed by what took place, I found myself discouraged at how I performed. I could not get over the sense of failing at an opportunity our Father had given me and was all upset about it. The problem within me was I still cared more about what people thought than I did about what our Father wanted to do through me that day. I can see now that things went just the way they were supposed to and our Father wasn't only teaching the spectators something about themselves, he was teaching me more about myself. The bible describes repentance as a gift. I now pray for all of you who are reading this that you would receive the gift of repentance and willingly acknowledge your own sin in allowing the opinions of others to rule your lives rather than living your lives to please our Father. We can only serve one master faithfully and as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Todd
