Stop Disqualifying Yourself

As I was reading my devotional this morning I found myself in the 16th chapter of Mark. I have read this chapter many times but one verse stands out to me today. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James want to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body. They find the stone rolled away and a young man sitting there and he gives them a message that Jesus has risen just as he said he would. Then, the next part is what struck me this morning. Verse 7 says to "go and tell his disciples and Peter..." Admittedly, I have overlooked this part because I was so excited about what happens next but this is where I want to spend a moment of time.

How many times do we disqualify ourselves because of a past mistake or outright failure? As we ready the scripture previously in the crucifixion story, Peter is told he would deny Christ 3 times. He does it almost unexpectedly and realizes what he has done. Peter then counts himself as unworthy to be called a disciple. This is the same Peter that was ready to fight for Christ and was told to put away the sword. This is the same Peter that loved Jesus and was sent by Jesus. This was the same Peter that had enough courage to step out of the boat and walk on water to get to Jesus in the first place but doubted and fell beneath the waves. Now, he discredits himself as a disciple.

We do the same thing in our lives almost daily. We will face conflict and we will make mistakes. We must remember that Just as Jesus Christ reached down and took Peter by the hand and escorted him back to the safety of the boat Jesus is telling us that we are still worthy because of the price he paid for us. There is no doubt that Peter felt like a failure and that now he was going to have to answer for his over confidence, but God was trying to illustrate something here that we miss out on.

Jesus did die for the disciples but he also died for the ones who felt unworthy to be one. You may find yourself in that today. No matter what you do to be good you end up making a mess out of the situation. You try to serve God and end up sinning and making mistakes that in your mind would disqualify you from God's grace. He is telling you today just as he was telling those who believe and those who feel as though they failed, "I am going ahead of you" Jesus is still calling and still leading you wherever you are and all you need to do is look, listen, and obey.

So you failed. Success is measured on the amount of failures you stand on. I wish I could say I came up with that true nugget of wisdom but John Maxwell beat me to it. But, it applies right where you are. You will either be defined by your failures or you will defy them. What will your choice be today? Stand with truth and recognize Jesus Christ is right there with you waiting for you to simply speak to him. Repent of your failures and mistakes and walk in the grace and mercy of God.

Nothing But Noise

I challenge you before you read any further to take 3 minutes and write down every noise you hear and be very attentive to any noise that you may hear. It's ok. I'll wait...Welcome back. The first time I actually sat and did this exercise, I was surprised at just how much stuff I heard. Look at your list. How much stuff was just background noise? How much was noise that had to be noticed? It is amazing that we hear so much and process so much information with our brains. We process sound information even while we are sleeping. Thankfully, my wife has stopped processing my snoring. As you can tell from your list, our lives are noisy. We have sounds that we just ignore and other sounds that come into our ears that cannot be ignored. Many of us thrive on noise. The though of studying without music in the background makes me have a small panic attack. In 1 Kings Chapter 19 we read about Elijah and we read this about the voice of God. 

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Many of us have made it a saying in our life that we want to hear the voice of God, but I want to ask you today, if the Lord is speaking, do you actually hear him? Or, is your life to full of noise to make it out? When was the last time you actually heard his voice speak to you? 

We read numerous passages of scripture that speak to this. David had to find his secret place and even Jesus himself had to withdraw so he could get close to his father. Why do we feel like we can allow so much noise to interfere and never suffer the ill effects. The world competes with the spiritual every single day. It gets louder and louder. We as followers of Christ must set aside the noise and listen to him. 

How do we accomplish pushing past the noise? Here are a few practical steps to accomplish the task of spiritual hearing. 

1. Make quiet time with God a priority. Its easy to say but harder to do. Plan those moments where you will get alone with God. Not just a couple of seconds but make it a part of your schedule. Place it on your daily schedule and treat it as a can't miss appointment. 

2. Unplug from distractions. You've done it and so have I. You go to pray and all of a sudden you have a text from your wife and you look at your phone and lose focus. You feel the vibration of an in coming email and you read it. I challenge you to lay down your phone, tablet, watch, and other types of communication devices and focus on simply hearing him. It is so easy to justify why we cannot unplug, but justification in our flesh is tool the devil has used for generations. Take a pen and paper and journal or take an actual copy of the Bible, you know that thing that is made of leather and paper with gold leafing on the pages, and read it apart from the noise of efficiency. 

3. Create a culture in your home of the value of time with God. We may do devotions because it's what we should do, but do our children know that it is much more than obligation that compels us to know the savior more? Do they understand the holiness involved with coming into the presence of God? Are we modeling to them the importance of fellowship with God and walking with him? 

I was very surprised by the number of people recently I have spoken to who have never really felt the spirit of God speaking directly to them. They cited busy lives and crazy schedules as to why their relationship with God was superficial as best. God has a desire to know us and to continue to get to know us as we journey through our lives. 

God does not scream at us to garner attention. The number one mark of an abuser is their tone. They will yell to get their point across and God is no abuser. He is a God of compassion and mercy. Now should he choose, he can be angered, but his desire is to have fellowship and communion with us. He is no abuser. He speaks with that same still small voice and gentle whisper he always has. Will you quieten down the noise so you can hear him?