How can I overcome discouragement?

This King of the Jungle was once a tiny cub

Unless what you’re attempting is as easy as falling off a bike, starting a new project leads to frustration and discouragement.  A good friend of mine started a new church several years ago.  For a while it seemed to be stuck but finally began to grow after a difficult relocation.  Another friend designs websites and paints, as well as working a full-time job and being a husband and father.  He does excellent work but is frustrated because the fruit of his labors is slow in coming.

I feel their pain. I started writing this daily blog (Monday through Friday each week) on January 1st of this year.  I currently have about 30 followers.  I know that’ s a good start but I read recently you need over 1000 followers if you want to publish a book.  I do want to write a book sometime so I guess I have a long way to go.

What can we do to keep on trying when we are discouraged?  How can I overcome and persevere?

I have determined to memorize and meditate on a powerful statement by the ancient Jewish prophet, Zechariah.

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the LORD that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (Zechariah 4:10)

Another translation makes it a command: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin….” (Zechariah 4:10)

“Do not despise small beginnings.”  The Jewish people were rebuilding the Temple to worship the Lord correctly. The Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s awe-inspiring building about a century before.  The new Temple began when Zerubbabel picked up his tools.  That was enough for the Lord to call his people to join him in rejoicing.

Our tools may vary from knowing grammar to paint brushes; from an entrepreneurial spirit to writing programming code. No matter what the Lord asks us to do, he rejoices to see the tools in our hands.  Will you join me in picking up your tools for one more day?  Will you believe we can and will complete the work he gives us to do?  Then let’s do it!

Can I really pray for my needs?

I’ve always been told it’s selfish to pray for my needs.  Is that true?  Or can I ask God to take care of my problems?

In nearly 30 years of pastoral service, I’ve met several persons with your question.  Every person I’ve met who wondered about praying for his/her needs believes God answers prayer — at least prayers of intercession.  I’m sure you believe God will answer your prayers for others but praying for your needs is a different matter.

Yes, you can pray for your needs with as much confidence as you pray for others.  I think the people who taught you otherwise misunderstood the idea of humility.  Perhaps they assumed the opposite of pride was belittling self instead of  loving service.  Here are a few Bible texts to encourage you to give God your needs.  It will be an act of love and faith when you do.  Read them before prayer until you feel comfortable presenting your needs to God.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7emphasis added)

Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,  your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ (Matthew 6:9-13)

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Have you struggled with the idea of presenting your needs to our Heavenly Father?  Have you learned to pray for your needs as well as the needs of others?  How did you do it? Please leave a comment below.

How can I invest time reading the Bible so my life is changed?

At the Cross Where I First Saw the Light

Yesterday I wrote about the benefits of reading the Bible.  The primary benefit of reading and understanding the Bible is that it has the power to change your life.  Let me give you several guidelines for investing your time in reading the Bible.

• Read the Bible reverently, thanking God for it.
• Read the Bible prayerfully, asking God to help you understand it.
• Read the Bible calmly, knowing God wants to spend time with you.
• Read the Bible attentively, listening for God’s quiet whispers.
• Read the Bible systematically, endeavoring to discover all of God’s revelation.
• Read the Bible intentionally, seeking God’s help to change your thinking and acting.

Here is a series of questions to help you read the Bible for transformation and not simply information.  They are based on an ancient pattern for reading the Bible called Lectio Divina (divine reading).  Start by asking the Holy Spirit to show you what he wants you to learn from your Bible text.  Read slowly through a passage that’s long enough to reveal a complete thought (for example, a chapter or a story).  Read the text at least three times before you begin to work with the following questions.

1. What word or phrase in the Bible passage stands out to you?
2. What is it about this word or phrase that grabs your attention?
3. What connection does this word or phrase have to your life?  To your relationship with Jesus?  To your relationships with others?
4. Which of your ideas about God, self or others does this word or phrase challenge?  How?  Why?
5. Based on your meditations on this word or phrase, how does God want to reorient you?
6. What change in thinking, acting or relating will you need to make?
7. Do you trust God enough to make this change?

Do Christians need to repent?

Yes, I think Christians need to repent often.  Your relationship with God is like every other relationship you have.  As time passes, you will make mistakes.  You will discover bad attitudes and actions.  The right response is to apologize and to turn from them to the Lord.  Can you imagine a marriage where one spouse never apologizes to the other and never changes?  How long do you thing the love would last?  If you cling to your mistakes and sins, they will strangle your relationship with God.

Here are a two more reasons for repenting regularly.

Judgement is coming.  It is unavoidable.  The judgment may not be as obvious as we tend to think.  And judgment will not happen as soon as some would like, but justice will come.  It’s better to have repented than to receive what you deserve.

Repenting will keep you honest and humble.  Simply keeping a list of rules makes it too easy to become a proud hypocrite.  Man made rules of behavior keep you from seeing God’s true will.  They can choke out your love for God and others.

Jesus calls us to a lifestyle of repentance.  He urges us to keep on turning back to God.  Do you repent on a consistent basis?  When was the last time you repented?  What did God ask you to turn away from?  Was it easy or hard?

How will we ever have enough to help the poor?

Many of us entered the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression with wild spending habits. As a whole, we were spending more than we earned. Most of us did not save anything. In the face of lower incomes, rising debts and prices, how can anyone ever expect get enough to take care of our families? And how can we help the poor if we can’t help ourselves?

I believe the largest difference between those who never seem to have enough and those who always have enough is not their bank account balances. The main difference is their attitude toward their bank account balances.

We tend to view bank account balances and mathematical formulas as the final statements regarding whether or not we have enough money. But we are children of the One who owns everything. We need to develop the attitude of contentment in all situations. It begins when we look up to heaven and thank God for what we have. That’s what Jesus did when he faced thousands of hungry people with only a sack lunch to feed them. “Looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.” (Matthew 14:15-21)

Our culture is driven by the desire to own more, to acquire the best, to earn more so we can buy more. We often act as if the cure for our greed is more money. If we have enough money then we will stop being greedy. However, the only way to overcome greed is with contentment. When we are satisfied with what the Lord provides, we have enough. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12-13)

We believe in God and we claim to follow Jesus, but we often trust our money and possessions for our security. We mistake our resources for our Real Source. Our security in life and eternity needs to be based on God’s promise to be our Provider.

It’s all about attitude. When we have enough we can share and if we follow Jesus we enjoy sharing with those in need. Having enough is all about attitude and not about our bank balances. There are three things we can do to develop that attitude.

1. Every day we need to look up and thank God for what we have, trusting him to take care of what we don’t have.
   
2. Every day we need to look up and be satisfied with what God provides.
   
3. Every day we need to look up and praise God as we recognize he is our Source.
   

How can I stop expecting people to meet my God shaped needs?

The original question was asked in this way. ”I know God is all I need but I still feel that I need other relationships to fulfill me.  How can I get so tapped into God that I don’t look to get from other people what only God can give?”

I want to start by pointing out that God does not claim to be all that you need and he designed you to enjoy other relationships.  Part of being created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26) is that we are social or relational beings.  That means you cannot be “so tapped into God” that you don’t want other relationships.

Looking to the master

The wording of your question points to the real issue.  People cannot meet the needs only God can meet.  Only God’s unconditional love and grace can fulfill you.  So, how can you stop expecting them to do the impossible for you?

I believe John Piper is right when he declares, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”  In my experience, learning to be satisfied with God involves the following.

1. We become frustrated with people for not delivering the unconditional love and grace only God can provide.   As long as we think people can love us the way God loves us, we are setting ourselves up for heartache.  When we are sick and tired of the disappointment, we can focus our expectations on the Lord.
2. We realize that being satisfied with God means we may or may not experience the comforts and joys our culture teaches us to expect.  This world promises all kinds of things it can never deliver.  Use our toothpaste and the best looking man or woman you can imagine will never stop kissing you.  Drive our car and everyone will get out of your way as you race through the streets of town.  Use this exercise equipment for 5 minutes a day, eat what ever you want and become the man or woman every one wants to kiss.  It’s time to be honest with ourselves.  We may never be the richest, most famous, best looking person in our community — and that’s OK.
3. We need to take time to study the Bible and discover who God is for us.  A good way to start is to look at his names.  He is the One who sees us in our time of need (Genesis 16:13).  He is our Provider (Genesis 22:14).  He is the source of our healing and health (Exodus 15:26).  He is the one who saves us from our sins — Jesus (Matthew 1:21).
4. All along, we need to pray that God will fill our hearts with a deep love and devotion for him.  This is his promise. “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name” (Psalm 91:14).

These four things will get you started on the way to seeking God’s gifts from God alone.  Perhaps you have an idea of your own.  What do you think might help you?

What does repent mean? How can I do it?

The Bible uses the word “repent” often. In the perhaps the oldest book in the Bible, Job says to God, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6) The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel called the people of Israel to repent. When John the Baptist arrived, he preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:1-2) Jesus launched his ministry with the same message. (Mark 1:14-15) And, when Jesus sent his twelve disciples out, they “preached that people should repent.” (Mark 6:12) So, what does repent mean and how can I do it?

 

Which way now?

When a person repents, he or she makes an 180^o turn in thinking.  It’s like a soldier marching in one direction who turns around in response to the command to about-face.  When we repent, we choose to line our minds up with a new idea.

In the Bible, repenting is a complete change of mind — a rethinking of what we believe about God, self and sin.  In Genesis 3, the serpent convinced Adam and Eve that God had lied to them, that they could become like God on their terms and that disobeying God’s command would benefit them. 

To repent or rethink our view of God means that we become convinced of his honesty and integrity.  It means we exchange the idea that he cannot be trusted with the idea that God can be trusted completely. 

Repenting is a change of mind regarding the consequences of disobeying God.  The Bible calls this disobedience sin and says the result is death. (Romans 6:23)  Sin destroys families, as well as, our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

To repent is to change what we believe about ourselves.  It takes us from being self-satisfied to dissatisfied with any attitude or action in our lives that is not like Jesus.  When we repent, we move from thinking, “I’m not so bad” to “I really need help.”

When we really repent, it changes the way we act.  Our thoughts shape our behavior.  That’s why John the Baptist said, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Luke 3:8)

Prayerful and careful Bible study is the primary way to open our minds to repent.  As we read and study the Bible we discover new truths to replace our old ways of thinking.  Ask God’s Spirit to reveal the truth to you as you study.  Expect him to help you change your behavior as well.