Full Commitment

What does God want us to commit to?  

1 Kings 8:61 - “And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

God wants us to be fully committed to following His guidelines for our lives.   Life’s too short to think partial commitment is good enough... God wants our all.  If we told our spouse that we will be faithful 80% of the time...that wouldn’t work.  It has to be 100%.  God is worthy of our total commitment to His direction for our lives.  

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

God wants us to be fully committed to moving forward.  Don’t EVER give up... the harvest is on the other side of the hurt.  

What other benefits come from full-on commitment to God?

REWARD - “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”  2 Chronicles 15:7

SUCCESS - “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”  Proverbs 16:3

JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS - “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.”  Psalm 37:5-6

AN AMAZING LIFE! - “Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.”  James 1:12

I challenge you today...

Be bold.

Dive in.

Trust God.

Persevere.

Commit to loving Jesus more.

Commit to loving others more.

Resist the temptation to compromise, fold, back down, stay silent, or be lukewarm.

You can do it... I’ll be praying for you as you do.  

The Catch

TODAY’S VERSES:  Psalm 46:10 and Proverbs 3:5-6     

     In the circus world, there may not be anything more exciting than watching the trapeze artists.   The flyer swings through the air, releases their grip, and tumbles over and over toward the catcher in the hopes that he/she will grab them at the perfect time.  There is a rule of thumb in this art that states “Don’t catch the catcher” and it goes against every impulse that human beings have.   It simply means that the flyer should not try to grab the hands of the catcher.  They are just to just remain calm and leave their hands outstretched… waiting for the catcher to do their job.  It’s nerve-wracking and takes a full commitment between the partners.  

When the flyer tries to help the catcher… problems happen.  Limbs get tangled and people fall to the net below.  

Commitment - trust - belief - faith.

Four words that not only define the roles of the trapeze artists… but are what should be at the heart of who we are as Christ-followers.  So many of us know the expression “let go and let God”  but how many of us do it?  We let go of one of our problems and trust that God will take care of it… but only temporarily.  When it gets down to crunch time we try to help God by worrying, taking over, and doing whatever we can to get through the situation as quickly as possible.  God wants to catch us and we refuse to let Him.  And time after time we find ourselves in the net below wondering where God went in all of it.  

God doesn’t drop us.  We just don’t trust Him to catch us.

Let that sink in for a second.  It’s not that God doesn’t care…it’s that we don’t allow Him to do things in His own way and time.  That healing you’re looking for?  God knows what’s on your next X-ray and will have the doctors in place to take care of it.   The financial pit you’ve dug yourself?  God has given you steps to climb back out in His Word.  The relationship that is struggling?  He’s ready to heal your heart (and theirs).  

Somewhere along the line we’ve convinced ourselves that if we aren’t in control, things don’t happen the way we want them to.  And when they go sideways, we don’t blame ourselves.   We shake our fists at heaven and wonder where God went.  God doesn’t move.  He sits on the opposite side of the arena waiting to catch us… waiting to heal our hurts… waiting to assure us that He’s all we need.  He isn’t going to swing toward us and meet us halfway.  Faith is not a 50/50 proposition.  God already believes in us 100%… now it’s time for us to live the same way.  He wants us to let go of the trapeze… let go of the control… and have the faith that His outstretched arms will be there waiting to grab us before we come close to falling.  

He is all we need. 

God will catch you.  He doesn’t need help.  Commit to Him… trust He is able… believe He will do it… and have the faith to leave your issues with Him.  

And when we do these things, and stop trying to catch the Catcher, we will live free of so many of the stresses that keep us awake at night.  

You can do this.  I’ll be praying for you.  

Real

Pastor Stephen Kingsley walked into a restaurant to have a warm bowl of chili.  It was freezing outside… the snow piling up just outside the front door.  He walked to the counter, ordered his food and coffee, and waited patiently.  In the corner of the room, an image on the television caught his eye.  It was a closeup of a fireplace… it’s flames dancing randomly across the screen.  He says that maybe it was just because it was cold outside… but he couldn’t take his eyes off the video fireplace.

Have you ever seen anything like that?  A fake fireplace?  All image but no heat?  Maybe not, but you might have known someone like that.  All commitment, no execution.  All talk, no action.  All carrying on, but no carrying out.  The Bible tells us not to be like that phony fireplace on the screen in James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  James tells us… don’t just look the part… don’t just say the words… don’t just promise yourself you’ll change… actually do it!  Be the real deal!  The world isn’t looking for fake fireplaces… they are looking for genuine believers fired up to be the light in this dark world.

Sacrifice, Generosity, and Commitment

Liza was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. He hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, ‘Yes, I’ll do it if it will save Liza.’  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, ‘Will I start to die right away?’  Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all of his blood.  He was willing to lose everything to save the one he loved.

Sacrifice, selfless generosity, full commitment... these are the things of love.  Real love.  The love that Christ showed on the cross for mankind... and the type of love He asks us to demonstrate to those we call family or friend.   

Are we ready and willing to love those that have the most invested in us?  Are we willing to look past the past and move on even when people have hurt us so badly?  Do we really love those we say we do… or are they just supposed to understand when we give them just a portion of our hearts.  

Christ-like love is 100%.  It’s sacrificial.  It’s generous.  It’s top shelf love… not back of the fridge leftovers.  It’s forgiveness… even when that forgiveness has not been earned, asked for, or deserved.   When we love others like God loves us it is not self-serving, “what’s in it for me” kind of devotion… it’s totally unselfish and completely unconditional.  

Christ loves you 100% because you’re you.  That’s it.  

Is it possible to love another human being like that?  Yes.  

And that person may call you daddy, mommy, brother, sister, boss, friend, or colleague.  They may annoy you, call you out when you blow it, and frustrate you to the point of breaking sometimes.  But the reality is, if we all want to live like Christ did… and that’s the whole point of our walk with Him… we have to learn to love with all of our hearts.  

Are you willing to give it all for someone else?

Are you willing to serve another like you were caring for yourself?

Are you willing to love without holding back, give without reservation, and trust God with the outcome?

If so, God is going to do big things in and through your life.  

If not, what’s holding you back?

What is it that prevents you from loving at this level?  Is it fear, past hurt, lack of trust, risk, not feeling appreciated… what is it that keeps you loving at 90% or lower?  I can promise you this… one day when this life nears its end, you and I will look back not at what we accomplished, but on who we loved.  Who had our hearts?  Who did we hold dearest?  Who got our 100%?  

Was there someone who saw us as uncaring, cold, distant, or aloof?

Was there someone who we said we loved but never trusted?

Was there someone who we should have sacrificed for but held something back from?

Was there someone who deserved all of us… but only got a fragment?  

I don’t want to ask those questions of myself.  And I know you probably don’t either.  

The great part is… if you’re reading this today, you aren’t dead.  This means that you still have time to learn to love, give, and serve those around you at the “all-in” level.  Resist the urge to say this is impossible.  Push back the temptation to say “but I…” or “I can’t…”  or “she doesn’t…” or “but they…”.  Decide today that you are going to work toward giving people the whole you.  The you that loves wholeheartedly and without reservation.  The you that puts others first.   

The you that would give all of their blood for the survival of another.  

That’s the kind of total love Christ was talking about.  Remember what Jesus said were the two most important commandments… Love God and love others.  And the only way to really love both?  Give 100%.  

John 15:12-13 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  

I Do

“But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” Ruth 1:16-18

In John Maxwell’s book, Be a People Person, he spells out the importance of true commitment... “Until I am committed, there is a hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole steam of events erupt. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons, and material assistance which I could never have dreamed would come my way begin to flow toward me—the moment I make a commitment”

I think what he’s saying is... until you say “I Do” ... you are only saying “I might” or “I’d like to” or even “I probably won’t.” When we fully jump in... God moves in our lives.

This is real commitment. “All In” commitment. The kind that Ruth promised in today’s passage. Look at the degree in which Ruth vows to stay connected to Naomi... “Your people will be my people... your God my God” Ruth was saying.... I Do. I’m all yours. Every part of me is signing on to the relationship. Ruth said “I will stand beside you no matter what!”

Is that your relationship with God? Have you said “I Do” to what God wants for your life? What’s getting in the way of giving God your all?

It’s my prayer today that we would follow Christ with a Ruth-level of commitment. This starts with giving everything we understand about ourselves to everything we understand about God. No holding back.

Are you ready to commit to God’s direction? Do you have Ruth-like determination to give God your all? Let me know in the comments below.

All

Poker players call it “All In”...  

Some know it as the mathematically impossible...“110%”  

Nike says “Just Do It”

You and I know it simply as...commitment.  

What does God want us to commit to?  

1 Kings 8:61 - “And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

God wants us to be fully committed to following His guidelines for our lives.   Life’s too short to think partial commitment is good enough... God wants our all.  If we told our spouse that we will be faithful 80% of the time...that wouldn’t work.  It has to be 100%.  God is worthy of our total commitment to His direction for our lives.  

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

God wants us to be fully committed to moving forward.  Don’t EVER give up... the harvest is on the other side of the hurt.  

What other benefits come from full-on commitment to God?

REWARD - “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”  2 Chronicles 15:7

SUCCESS - “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”  Proverbs 16:3

JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS - “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.”  Psalm 37:5-6

AN AMAZING LIFE! - “Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.”  James 1:12

I challenge you today...

Be bold.

Dive in.

Trust God.

Persevere.

Commit to loving Jesus more.

Commit to loving others more.

Resist the temptation to compromise, fold, back down, stay silent, or be lukewarm.

You can do it... I’ll be praying for you as you do.  

Hard Work

An Ethiopian folk tale tells of a wife’s determination to save her marriage.  The story goes that a couple was having relationship trouble... so the wife goes to a judge and says she needs help.  The judge tells her that he has a magic medicine that will solve her problem.  However, the main ingredient is a hair from a lion’s tail.  Loving her husband, the desperate woman agrees and goes out to acquire the hair.  Day after day she stalks a lion waiting for her opportunity.  Finally, one day she snatches the hair and races back to the judge...eager for the tonic that will save her marriage.  The judge tells her... “that was a very brave thing you did... it took determination, patience, resolve, and courage.  There is no magical potion.  Instead of looking for the quick fix... demonstrate those same things in your relationship... and I promise it will get better.”

Marriage is wonderful.  But I have yet to see one that hasn’t required hard work, compromise, understanding, forgiveness, and honesty to thrive.  If you’re having trouble... don’t scour the bookstore or the internet for a shortcut.  Reinvest your time in what built your bond from the start.  As 1st Corinthians 13 tells us, love isn’t just a feeling... it’s a commitment.  And when energy is spent on reinforcing that commitment rather than regretting it... great things can happen.

Upside and Cost

The other day, I read an article about the diet soft drink, “Coke Zero”... it talked about how pleasantly surprised people were to discover how close to real coke it actually tasted.  The story said that many loved that they could have the benefits and great taste of a refreshing coke without the guilt of the calories.  

I was thinking about this when I ran across this scripture from Mark 8:34 - Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me"  A challenging verse...but Jesus makes it very clear what He requires to be a disciple.   I meet many who are Christ followers... some want God’s blessings and provision but don’t want the obedience and sacrifice He requires.  They want the taste without the calories... the upside without the cost.  If we are going to walk with Him... we can’t leave our cross laying on the ground.  Let’s commit today to pick it up, and follow Him with our whole heart...  When we do... life gets so much sweeter.  

100%

John 15:12-13 says, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  

Liza was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her five-year-old brother. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. He hesitated for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, ‘Yes, I’ll do it if it will save Liza.’  As the transfusion progressed, he lay in a bed next to his sister and smiled, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, ‘Will I start to die right away?’  Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all of his blood.  He was willing to lose everything to save the one he loved.

Sacrifice, selfless generosity, full commitment... these are the things of love.  Real love.  The love that Christ showed on the cross for mankind... and the type of love He asks us to demonstrate to those we call family or friend.   

Are we ready and willing to love those that have the most invested in us?  Are we willing to look past the past and move on even when people have hurt us so badly?  Do we really love those we say we do… or are they just supposed to understand when we give them just a portion of our hearts.  

Christ-like love is 100%.  It’s sacrificial.  It’s generous.  It’s top shelf love… not back of the fridge leftovers.  It’s forgiveness… even when that forgiveness has not been earned, asked for, or deserved.   When we love others like God loves us it is not self-serving, “what’s in it for me” kind of devotion… it’s totally unselfish and completely unconditional.  

Christ loves you 100% because you’re you.  That’s it.  

Is it possible to love another human being like that?  Yes.  

And that person may call you daddy, mommy, brother, sister, boss, friend, or colleague.  They may annoy you, call you out when you blow it, and frustrate you to the point of breaking sometimes.  But the reality is, if we all want to live like Christ did… and that’s the whole point of our walk with Him… we have to learn to love with all of our hearts.  

Are you willing to give it all for someone else?

Are you willing to serve another like you were caring for yourself?

Are you willing to love without holding back, give without reservation, and trust God with the outcome?

If so, God is going to do big things in and through your life.  

If not, what’s holding you back?

What is it that prevents you from loving at this level?  Is it fear, past hurt, lack of trust, risk, not feeling appreciated… what is it that keeps you loving at 90% or lower?  I can promise you this… one day when this life nears its end, you and I will look back not at what we accomplished, but on who we loved.  Who had our hearts?  Who did we hold dearest?  Who got our 100%?  

Was there someone who saw us as uncaring, cold, distant, or aloof?

Was there someone who we said we loved but never trusted?

Was there someone who we should have sacrificed for but held something back from?

Was there someone who deserved all of us… but only got a fragment?  

I don’t want to ask those questions of myself.  And I know you probably don’t either.  

The great part is… if you’re reading this today, you aren’t dead.  This means that you still have time to learn to love, give, and serve those around you at the “all-in” level.  Resist the urge to say this is impossible.  Push back the temptation to say “but I…” or “I can’t…”  or “she doesn’t…” or “but they…”.  Decide today that you are going to work toward giving people the whole you.  The you that loves wholeheartedly and without reservation.  The you that puts others first…  

The you that would give all of their blood for the survival of another.  

That’s the kind of total love Christ was talking about.  Remember what Jesus said were the two most important commandments… Love God and love others.  And the only way to really love both?  

Give 100%.  

I Do

“But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”  When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.”  Ruth 1:16-18

In John Maxwell’s book, Be a People Person,  he spells out the importance of true commitment... “Until I am committed, there is a hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole stream of events erupt. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons, and material assistance which I could never have dreamed would come my way begin to flow toward me—the moment I make a commitment”

I think what he’s saying is... until you say “I Do” ... you are only saying “I might” or “I’d like to” or even “I probably won’t.”  When we fully jump in... God moves in our lives.  

Today we're talking about real commitment.  “All In” commitment.  The kind that Ruth promised in today’s passage.  Look at the degree in which Ruth vows to stay connected to Naomi... “Your people will be my people... your God my God”  Ruth was saying.... I Do.  I’m all yours.  Every part of me is signing on to the relationship.  Ruth said “I will stand beside you no matter what!”

Is that your relationship with God?  Have you said “I Do” to what God wants for your life?  What’s getting in the way of giving God your all?

It’s my prayer today that we would follow Christ wish a Ruth-level of commitment.  This starts with giving everything we understand about ourselves to everything we understand about God.  No holding back.  

Are you ready to commit to God’s direction?   Do you have Ruth-like determination to give God your all?  Let me know in the comments below.

Fully Committed

Poker players call it “All In”...  

Some know it as the mathematically impossible...“110%”  

Nike says “Just Do It”

You and I know it simply as...commitment.  

What does God want us to commit to?  

1 Kings 8:61 - “And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

God wants us to be fully committed to following His guidelines for our lives.   Life’s too short to think partial commitment is good enough... God wants our all.  If we told our spouse that we will be faithful 80% of the time...that wouldn’t work.  It has to be 100%.  God is worthy of our total commitment to His direction for our lives.  

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

God wants us to be fully committed to moving forward.  Don’t EVER give up... the harvest is on the other side of the hurt.  

What other benefits come from full-on commitment to God?

REWARD - “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”  2 Chronicles 15:7

SUCCESS - “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”  Proverbs 16:3

JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS - “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.”  Psalm 37:5-6

AN AMAZING LIFE! - “Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.”  James 1:12

I challenge you today...

Be bold.

Dive in.

Trust God.

Persevere.

Commit to loving Jesus more.

Commit to loving others more.

Resist the temptation to compromise, fold, back down, stay silent, or be lukewarm.

You can do it... I’ll be praying for you as you do.  

Are you “all in”?  Let me know in the comments below. 

No Need For Flowers

Biblical scholar Howard Hendricks once told his son Bob, “Be so dependable that if you say you will be somewhere and don’t show up, they send flowers.”

Are you thought of as reliable?  Are the commitments that you make as good as done?  If you don’t fulfill a vow to be somewhere… will those you’ve made a promise to think a bad thing has happened?  If this doesn’t sound like you… I’ve got good news:  today is a new day.  Making our word our bond requires a steadfast commitment.   Scripture echoes the importance of being good on our words in Matthew 5:37.  It says,  “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.”  If you’re given the opportunity to make a commitment…stop and think about it.  Are you really going to honor it?  Will you really show up?  If so, great!  If not, remember, it’s better not to make a vow, than to make one and break it later.  Be a person of integrity… someone that people can trust… and when you say “yes” or “no” in the future, those around you will know exactly where they stand and what’s going to happen as a result of your decision.  

Video Fireplace

Pastor Stephen Kingsley walked into a restaurant to have a warm bowl of chili.  It was freezing outside… the snow piling up just outside the front door.  He walked to the counter, ordered his food and coffee, and waited patiently.  In the corner of the room, an image on the television caught his eye.  It was a closeup of a fireplace… it’s flames dancing randomly across the screen.  He says that maybe it was just because it was cold outside… but he couldn’t take his eyes off the video fireplace.

Have you ever seen anything like that?  A fake fireplace?  All image but no heat?  Maybe not, but you might have known someone like that.  All commitment, no execution.  All talk, no action.  All carrying on, but no carrying out.  The Bible tells us not to be like that phony fireplace on the screen in James 1:22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.”  James tells us… don’t just look the part… don’t just say the words… don’t just promise yourself you’ll change… actually do it!  Be the real deal!  The world isn’t looking for fake fireplaces… they are looking for genuine believers fired up to be the light in this dark world.  

Cleaning Up the Mess

One day a young boy was eating potato chips and had made a terrible mess on the floor.  His father entered the room, noticed the mess, and told his son that he would clean it up for him.  The boy quickly replied... “No dad, I’ll do it!”  The dad thought a second and said, “No, if I let you do it, you’re going to make a bigger mess.”  The boy protested... “No I won’t!”  So the father relented and let his son clean up the chips.

The result?  As expected, the boy made a bigger mess.   

When we hear this story, we can be too quick to dismiss it as something only a child would do.  But take a second and think about it... don’t we do the same thing with God?  Time after time in scripture He tells us that He will take care of things for us... revenge, provision, fulfillment, peace.. and so much more.   Yet, we tell God all the time... “I’ve got it!”  And the result, a bigger mess.  Proverbs 21:2 says “A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart”   God knows best... and when we try to help Him handle our lives, we typically just make things more complicated.  Make the commitment today to take God at His word... Let Him do what He says He wants to do for us... and praise Him when you experience the blessing of His loving care.