COMMIT TO GIVE...

"...not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only..." - Philippians 4:15

Paul planted dozens of Churches in his short ministry and he traveled around visiting them until the day of his death. If there was anyone who knew all about the latest and best innovations of the 1st century Church it was the Apostle Paul and he a special compliment to pay the Philippian Church. He said they were the only one that was being generous with their resources...

We want to be that kind of Church! We want to be the kind of church that has abundance and can be generous on every occasion. We want to be the kind of church where what seems impossible with men becomes possible through God. We want to be the type of Church where even our enemies look and say, "That must be God!" We want to be the kind of Church that can bless back! But our Church is not some abstract idea it is made up of people; it is made up of you and me. So if we want our church to be all these things then we have to be all these things.

Are you ready to believe God for the impossible in your own life? Are you ready to take the challenges that have been thrown in your direction and turn them into tools? Are you ready to commit to give so that we can bless back?

Jesus' Church will be victorious because His spirit will continue to live inside of the people who build it. Are you going to get in on the ground level of the move of God that will sweep our city?

COMMIT TO GOD'S WORK...

"When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." - Nehemiah 6:16

All of us have made alliances with people. We have picked our favorite sports teams, bands, political figures, movies etc... Every time we chose one side over the other - Bears vs. Colts; Democrat vs. Republican - we not only make new friends, we make new enemies.

When Nehemiah approached the Babylonian King about going back to Jerusalem to rebuild his hometown, he must have known that he was going to be making some enemies, but he didn't let that slow him down. He knew that ultimately he was not aligning himself with anyone but God. At the beginning of the project there may not have been many people who saw Nehemiah's real ally but by the end of the project it became undeniably clear - even to Nehemiah's enemies - that he had allied himself with God.

God is moving all around us, have you committed to join in with His work? Are you acting as a connector to the power of Christ in people's lives?

COMMIT TO GOD'S PURPOSE...

"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and left..." - Isaiah 54:2-3a

God has not called us to be satisfied with our little postage stamp sized plot of ground in our safe little suburb communities. His purpose for our lives includes much more that just getting by. Throughout the entire Bible God is challenging His people to move and be stretched. He told Abraham - an old man - that he would be the father of a nation; He made Moses - a stuttering murderer - into a leader who could stand up to the most powerful ruler of His time; He told a little shepherd boy named David - the smallest boy in his family - that he would be king; and, He told Mary - a young virgin - that she was going to give birth to the savior of the world.

You might read a passage like Isaiah 54 and think that it is intended for bigger people but the 'biggest' people in the Scripture usually had the most humble beginnings. Commit yourself to God's purpose for your life and then buckle in...you just might find yourself on the ride of your life!

COMMIT TO YOUR CALLING...

"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose..." - Romans 8:28

A lot of us make the mistake of living our lives with an exit strategy. We jump into a job or a relationship with a detailed plan of how we can get out when things don't work out. The problem is that sometimes life places us in situations we didn't plan for.

After parachuting into Normandy on D-Day in June 1944, Joseph Beyrle was captured by the Germans. American troops found his dog tags on another body on Utah beach, presumably a Nazi spy. After being moved through seven Nazi prison camps, Beyrle was tortured and interrogated. On his third attempt, he finally escaped. After running for a day, he realized that his best chance for survival was to find the Soviets, the only U.S. Ally fighting in the area. He found the Soviets and earned their trust by using his demolition skills to blow up trees that were hindering the advance of their tanks. He was injured after three weeks and sent to Moscow where he was finally able to convince the doctor to take his finger prints, proving that he was who he said he was.

No matter what comes against us in life we know that all things work together for the good. God has already promised us that He's got our back and He is working behind the scenes to make the outcome of all things work toward the good. All we have to do is keep fighting. Beryle had plenty of opportunities to feel like there was no hope, but by pushing ahead and staying focused on the vision that drove him, he was ultimately sent home. When God sets a direction in our life we can't afford to hold onto an exit strategy. We have to commit to our calling and trust that God will make a way when things get difficult.

WORTHY COMMITMENTS...

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith..." - 2 Timothy 4:7

Young Ray Kroc tried his hand at many things but eventually settled down to become a salesman. He initially sold paper cups. Opportunity knocked when he had a chance meeting with the inventor of the five-spindle multimixer, Earl Prince. Ray Kroc convinced Earl to give him exclusive marketing rights for the mixer and successfully sold it all over the country for the next decade and a half. One of Ray's largest customers was a California based burger joint run by the McDonald brothers. Ray saw a tremendous potential in the finely tuned process of the McDonald's restaurant so he convinced the brothers to make him their exclusive agent. In 1954 Kroc opened his own McDonald's drive-in and officially launched the McDonalds Corporation. More than half a century later there is hardly a person on the planet that would not recognize the famed golden arches.

What are you committed to? When Paul wrote the words found in 2 Timothy 4:7, he was writing at the end of a life of absolute commitment. He was admonishing Timothy, his predecessor, to continue the fight. Ray Kroc was a wildly successful businessman, who has made an indelible imprint on the business community, but at the end of the day, his company sells mediocre hamburgers. The Christian life on the other hand, is centered on Jesus Christ! The savior of all mankind! Isn't He worthy of our complete and total commitment

REVOLUTIONARY RESULTS...

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us..." Ephesians 3:20

Many of us have had experience on sports teams. There always seems to be two types of athletes who excel. There are those who just have natural talent. They are able to learn the skills faster, master the technique better and handle the ball with greater skill; they just seem to be good at it! Then there are the ones who don't have the best ball handling skills at first, or don't win the 2 mile run in the first week of practice, but through hard work and diligence earn their spot on the starting lineup. Both of these athletes - the naturally gifted and the hard worker - excel and are usually considered good athletes. But how does someone become a great athlete?

In Ephesians 3:20 Paul is not just reminding us how incredible God is. He is pointing us in the direction of experiencing revolutionary results in our lives. Paul is not saying that God is going to do immeasurably more than all He already planned to do; he is saying that God will do more than we ask. This assumes that we're asking for something. Once we've asked for it, the results are not going to drop out of the sky, but are going to come through Christ's power that is already in us. In other words, it is going to take both incredible faith and hard work to create revolutionary results.

For many of us being good at what we do is a high goal. We work hard to earn that promotion. We read books on healthy sleep habits to learn how to be better parents. We focus our time around our strengths, so that we can excel and end up on the starting lineup. But for many of us, we stop just short of what it takes to experience revolutionary results! Because, of course, what makes a great athlete is natural ability combined with a great work ethic. In our spiritual lives God is calling us to bring our best questions and all the power available to us and it is that offering that He will bless and turn into immeasurably more.

REVOLUTIONARY GENEROSITY...

"She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head." - Mark 14:3b

Read the story about a woman who committed herself to revolutionary generosity found in Mark 14:3-9. "She could have sold the jar for a year's wages and used the money for the poor," they said. They were right! There were a lot of things that she could have done with a gift of that size. Instead, she poured it all out on Jesus' head. She gave it all to Jesus in a moment of revolutionary generosity.

This woman's act should catch our attention. It should cause us to wrestle with the question, "How much is too much?" The men in the room were shocked by the woman's gift not only because of its value, but because of the apparent lack of practical benefit. Jesus had to set them straight by reminding them that if He is the recipient of the gift, no value is too great.

REVOLUTIONARY FAITH...

"Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, 'We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.'" - Numbers 13:30

God, through Moses, delivered the nation of Israel from slavery in Egypt. He not only delivered them, but He did it in a way that was unmistakably Him (See Exodus 6-14). God had a plan for His people that required them to move so He set up leaders and performed miracles to get them into the right position.

By the time we get to the book of Numbers however, the Israelites have forgotten all of the amazing things that God did to get them there and began grumbling against their leader Moses. Because they were afraid of the next phase, most of the people said, "Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:3)

Most of the people, that is, except Caleb! Caleb was cut from a different fabric. When he looked into the plan that God had for him, he saw the same hurdles and obstacles as everyone else, but he didn't respond in fear. Instead, he responded with revolutionary faith. He said, "We should go up and take possession of the land...".

Paul says in Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." When the calling that God places on you is clearly bigger than you...remember who you serve; He has already parted the Red Sea in your past and He might be leading you toward that obstacle so He can do it again.

REVOLUTIONARY SACRIFICE...

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" 1 John 3:16-17

A little six-year-old girl became deathly ill from a terrible disease. She required a blood transfusion and her nine-year-old brother was on the short list of people who matched her blood type. The doctors exhausted all other possibilities before approaching the brother, but left with no other options, they eventually did. They explained to the boy that if he was willing to give his blood to his sister, her life might be saved. Without understanding all of the dynamics, he agreed. The blood transfusion began. The doctor put the needle in his arm, and the little boy closed his eyes and lay back silently on the bed. When the transfusion was over, the doctors thanked the boy for his sacrifice and the boy began to cry. They asked him why he was crying and he said, "Doctor, when do I die?" The nine-year-old brother didn't fully understand what he was doing. He thought that he was trading his life for his sister's, which made his sacrifice even that much greater.

Most of us won't be called to give blood to our dying sister, or to be martyrs in foreign countries. But every single one of us will be faced with thousands of small decisions over the course of our lives that will amount to something in the end. What direction are your decisions taking you? When you look back over your life, will you see a life that has been characterized by revolutionary sacrifice? Are you heading in the right direction?

THE REVOLUTIONARY LIFE...

"But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." 1 Timothy 6:7-8

St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) was one of the most celebrated Christian writers of all time. He said, "God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands our full - there's no where for Him to put it." When we feel as though God's blessings are missing from our lives, we need to examine our hands and see if they are open to receive, or clenched tightly with a white-knuckled grip around something that we refuse to let go.

For the first few months of a baby's life, they are not able to open their little fists very easily. It's caused by an immature nervous system spending its time focusing on other things, but it creates some frustrating moments. Especially around the two month mark when she really wants to grab that little blanket and put it in her mouth, but just can't seem to get her little fingers to cooperate and open up!

Unfortunately, many of us live in a similar way. We keep our hands tightly clenched around the things we have while trying to grab at the things we don't have. But here are some revolutionary thoughts: You were born buck naked and you're going to die empty handed! Or said a different way...There's never been a U-haul behind a hearse; and yours won't be hitched up either! The only way to live a revolutionary life is to be willing to lose it all, and since it's all going to be lost in the end anyway, what's the risk?

YOUR HEART IS HITCHED...

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also..." - Matthew 6:21
This passage in Matthew 6:21 is just one of many times that Jesus talks about money. Jesus talked about money and what we do with it a lot. In fact, 25% of the parables told in the Bible are about money. Why would Jesus spend so much of His time teaching and challenging His followers about money?

Randy Alcorn wrote a book that has become a classic in the area of Jesus' teaching about money. It's a quick read, only 92 pages, but it's packed with challenging insight into how we think about what we have. Here's what he says:

"15 percent of everything Christ said relates to this topic (money) - more than His teachings on heaven and hell combined. Why did Jesus put such an emphasis on money and possessions? Because there's a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and the way we think about and handle money. We may try to divorce our faith and finances, but God sees them as inseparable." - Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle

Jesus taught on money because He knew that wherever we put our treasure, our heart would follow. Since Jesus wants our hearts to be with Him, he wants us to place our treasure in line with His will. It's just that simple!

NEED...

"For every animal of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills... the world is mine and all that is in it..." - Psalm 50:10, 12
Does God need anything?

Sometimes we think too highly of ourselves. We act like God is our elderly grandfather who needs our help getting from the recliner to the bed. We act as if it weren't for our charitable contributions, He would be left trying to scrape together a plan to save what he could on a fixed income. This is obviously not correct. The more accurate analogies are those offered by the Scriptures about our relationship to God. The Bible suggests that we are like sheep (Matthew 9:36). We eat the grass in God's field and stay within the boundaries that He establishes, or else find our own way among the lions and wolves. The Bible also says that God is the potter and we are the clay (Jeremiah 18:6). We are just a lump of dirt until He forms us into what He wants us to be. By relying on the images of scripture, there is no escaping that God is the sole proprietor of creation and we are at best leasing space.

Therefore, when we give to God, we are not keeping Him afloat for another month. God does not need anything. So why do we give? When we stop and think about it, I guess that's pretty obvious...maybe the real struggle is not in thinking that God has needs, but in admitting that we do!

HE'S GOT MORE...

"And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus..." Philippians 4:19
Why do people go on cruises? Certainly it's not because the person who cleans your room rolls your towel in the shape of an octopus and irons your pillow case, bath robe and slippers every time you inhale. No! The reason you go on a cruise is the food; the all-you-can-eat-three-entrees-seventeen-sides-five-deserts-and-a- little-moist-towelette-on-top food! When you hear people talking about their cruise, they usually say something like this, "Well, the room was the size of a dehydrated pea and we had to sit with this guy named Ted Kaczynski who kept talking about politics, but man that crab cake...whew! It was amazing!"

Everyone knows that the reason you go on a cruise is the food. Imagine how crazy it would be for someone to go on a cruise and spend the whole time stock piling food in their room just in case... there's no sense in it! You can have anything you want to eat just about any time you want it, so why go to all the trouble? Isn't this how some of us are living each day? For fear of not having enough tomorrow - which is not guaranteed to come for any of us anyway - we stock pile today. The God we serve has access to every last resource we could ever possibly need (Psalm 24:1). He has invited us to a feast, yet we stop at McDonald's on the way just in case...

Philippians 4:19 promises us that God will meet all our needs according to His glorious riches. He's got your back if you follow Him! Don't worry, He's got more and He's a generous God!