Christian Concepts

Bringing your Potential to Light

Identity

Interpret the Bible with Your Christian Identity

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The experiences and personal characteristics you bring to a Bible passage help you interpret what it means. Two people can read the same Bible verse and draw two different conclusions. This is why we also need the Holy Spirit to help us know the truth.

When you read about David moving the Ark of God, how do you relate to the story?

David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim. And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.

And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

—2 Samuel 6:1-7

If you read this passage as someone who isn’t secure in their salvation, you could feel anger, condemnation, fear, and anxiety. You’ll wonder if you’ve done something wrong (or you’re about to) and God is going to punish you severely, or worse that you’ve lost your salvation.

However, if you read it as a Christian who is secure in their salvation, you’ll be able to recognize that you have God’s favor as His child. You won’t worry about God’s response because you’ll know that His response is the best for you. God disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:6) so I’m not suggesting that God is easy on sin. I am suggesting that God is working for your good and you don’t need to live in fear. God’s perfect life drives away fear (1 John 4:18).

When you become a child of God, you have a privileged relationship. You shouldn’t read the Bible as if you’re just like every character in the Bible. If you’re a Christian and you read it as if you’re Uzzah or King Saul instead of David or the apostle Paul, you’re going to feel fear instead of peace. David sinned greatly and God still considered him a man after His heart. God disciplined him, but he also blessed him. How can this be? The Holy Spirit of God was with David in ways that He wasn’t with Saul.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

—Romans 8: 1-2

Don’t let anything separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:37-39). Make sure you interpret Bible passages based upon your new identity and standing, as a totally accepted person because you’re “in Christ Jesus.”

Identity and The Gospel

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The Gospel is the foundation of Christian identity.  Without the Gospel, you couldn’t become born spiritually, so you’d never have access to your Christian identity.

When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he stressed repeatedly that the Gospel can’t be altered in any way. As soon as you add or remove something, you no longer have a Gospel. He goes on to say that the primary reason anyone would want to alter the Gospel would be to please another human.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

—Galatians 1:10

You might water down the Gospel so that more people qualify. The Gospel is already free. Or, almost free. You do have to want to spend eternity with God on His terms. The Gospel needs to be responded to for it to be effective. If we try to make it more inclusive, we steal away its power.

You might try to tighten up the Gospel so that fewer people qualify. But again, the Gospel isn’t some hard-to-get-into exclusive club. You can’t make a profit from the Gospel but charging someone. It’s already free, making someone jump through more hoops to qualify also robs the Gospel of its power.

The more we try to please anyone but God, the more we stray from fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. God has a purpose for us. Every day has a purpose. God knows the day you will wake up so you can intentionally seek your purpose. He strategically hides everyone’s purpose in their identity. If you know your identity, you know your purpose.

If you want some assistance in discovering who God made you to be, get my workbook, Confident Identity.

Use Your Potential or You Might Lose It

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One of Aesop’s Fables, The Miser and His Gold, demonstrates that without God, the fear of not having enough is strong.

Once upon a time there was a Miser who buried his gold near a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat over his gains. A robber, who had noticed this, went and dug up the gold and left town with it. When the Miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his hair and raised such an outcry that all the neighbors came around him, and he told them how he used to come and visit his gold.

“Did you ever take any of it out?” asked one of them.

“No,” said he, “I only came to look at it.”

“Then come again and look at the hole,” said a neighbor; “it will do you just as much good.”

Wealth unused might as well not exist.

The Miser lives a stagnant, distracted life and remains empty despite having a treasure. He is mesmerized by his treasure but he only has the illusion of fullness. He has the wrong focus: external and worldly. He clings to the vain and empty. He feels anxious because he uses creation the wrong way.

Using the visible to attempt to fill the spiritual doesn’t work.

The Miser expects security from wealth when God didn’t make money for this purpose (1 Timothy 6:10). Using something the wrong way is expecting more from it that it is capable of delivering. If you put too much strain on a shovel, it will break. Or, if you put too much weight in an elevator, the cable snaps. If you expect too much from a friend, you might lose your friend.

Another story, the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14–30), demonstrates that without a Confident Identity you can’t please God. In the parable, the master gives his servants talents (money) according to their ability. Two of the servants multiply their God-given resources. The master showers them with equal praise, independent of their ability. But, the master condemns the lazy servant who doesn’t attempt to use his ability. He lacks initiative because he focuses on his fear of failure. He is unable to perform because he doesn’t feel secure in his identity.

Why doesn’t the servant feel secure enough to invest? He probably didn’t take the time to pursue learning his identity with the help of others’ encouragement. The lesson for the servant might be potential that you never use might as well not exist. Those who completely avoid God out of fear demonstrate they don’t really know Him. God wants you to trust and invest. God wants you to activate what He’s given you. Your identity won’t do you any good unless you discover it and use it wisely.

Both the Miser and the lazy servant believe the wrong information about God and their own sense of self. Both are fear based and seek a false security. The Miser relies on a treasure instead of God. The servant would rather not try at all than to try and fail, even though to not try is the surest way to fail. Neither is willing to risk failure in order to live up to their potential. Both seek self-preservation apart from God.

As with many stories Jesus told in the Bible, the interpretation depends on your standing before God. When you’re in good standing already (meaning you’re a believer) the stories are meant to encourage and reassure. God wants to shower praise on you for your sincere efforts. For those who hate God and don’t know Him, the messages are extreme. They’re meant as a warning to encourage drastic action to put you in good standing.

Use it or you might lose it. Think of a gift or blessing God has given you. How can you use it today?

Satan is the Best Salesman

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Have you ever gone window shopping and ended up buying something? Maybe a lot of something?

I missed an appointment with someone recently. We got our times mixed up. While I waited for him to arrive, I went for a walk. I walked passed a bookstore. I decided to go in and look around. I walked out with three books I had no plan to buy. Maybe I should reword that. I didn’t steal them. I purchased three books that I didn’t know existed an hour earlier. I got them on sale, so it’s okay, right? All this happened without any salesman pressuring me to buy anything.

If Satan, the deceiver, was a salesman he would say, “Books are good for learning. Certainly, God doesn’t want you to be ignorant, does he?”

Of course, I’m not saying that buying books is a sin. Nor am I saying that Satan told me to buy those books. I’m happy with my purchase (two of the three books were Christian books, so it’s okay, right?).

The deceiver can make you think you’re on a good path when you’re really not. He can make you think your not good enough when you really are. He can make you think you need something when you really don’t.

Satan is the best salesman. He sold Adam and Eve on choosing hell over God. He sold that God was against them, withholding something great. He implied God lied. He could sell an iceberg to an Eskimo or a mirror to a blind man. But he doesn’t really have to. He only has to create the smallest bit of doubt to close his sale. Ssssssss. God is holding back on you. God isn’t all good. Ssssssss.

Life is God — there really isn’t anything else. God is either all good, or he’s got some bad in Him. If He’s got some bad, He ceases to be trustworthy. God, ruler of the universe, can only be trusted as 100 percent good, or not at all. Just remember: as soon as you believe God has any evil in Him, you’ve lost everything. If God can’t be perfect, then what hope do you have? Such doubts can reak havoc in your daily living.

Who are you trusting? Do you see God as all good, or do you see some bad in Him? Perhaps you believe God hasn’t treated you fairly? If so, to correct this, you must intentionally address your positive experience deficit. Seek the healing you need to experience God’s goodness.

Once you taste that God is good, even in the smallest amount, it can create enough faith to see that God must be all good. With God living inside you, you can overlook painful circumstances, and continue to see God as perfectly good.

Stop an imagine: How would seeing God as all good change how you see yourself, your self-image?

Why Playing The Long Game Matters

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In chess, the pawn is the weakest piece. However, if you stop your understanding of the pawn there, you’ll miss that the pawn also has the most potential of all the pieces. If it reaches the other side of the board, it becomes more powerful.

Life isn’t a game. I’m not suggesting you play games with your life. Playing the long game means investing the effort to achieve maximum results. Most of the time this requires sacrificing short-term rewards.

Jesus gave up His earthly life to secure an everlasting victory over death. His life was short but long on results. He achieved such outstanding results because He followed the Father’s plan. He fulfilled His destiny.

You, too, have a clearly defined destiny. Have you invested the time to learn what it is? You can’t play the long game without it. You can expect to spend your whole life in preparation for the next moment of your life. God wants you to know your identity and walk in good works. The more you know your identity, the more you know your destiny.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

—Ephesians 2:10

The long-game player finds the optimal balance between immediate satisfaction and maximum impact. Jesus spent time healing people who eventually died. At first glance, this seems like a waste of time. He did it anyway because He cares. He showed us the Father’s heart. But Jesus never allowed any short-term gain to delay, diminish, or deter Him from God’s long-term plans.

God made you for a specific purpose. Who you are is enough to fulfill your purpose. You have all you need to reach your potential. But you must seek and discover to reach your potential.  As you become more, you’ll be able to accomplish more. But, if you don’t invest in growth, you delay reaching your potential.

You can’t play the long game without faith. God always sees the end — the infinite future. Because you can’t see that far, you must trust His vision. You can, however, see far enough to take the next step.

Should You Follow or Ignore Your Feelings?

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When should you trust your feelings? When should you not?

I don’t recommend you ever ignore your feelings. They are there for a reason.

But it’s up to you to figure out what they mean and what to do about them.

If your feelings are negative, that doesn’t mean you agree with them and follow them. Think of your feelings like your ability to taste or smell. You don’t continue eating if the food tastes bad. But you should be glad you can taste that the food is bad, so you can stop eating.

Just because you feel like you want to steal something, doesn’t mean you should. But the urge to steal something should help you learn something about what you need emotionally. Perhaps you need to ask for what you need more often?

Always consider how there could be a legitimate way to satisfy your feelings. You might feel hungry for junk food, but how about something healthy instead?

Or, you might have a goal to lose weight down to a healthy weight. Without a good option, sometimes the healthiest thing to do is to not eat anything. You’ll feel hungry going unsatisfied, but you have a higher purpose in mind: feeling fit and enjoying being in shape.

You might feel angry like you want to get revenge. If you follow through with revenge, you’ll likely only create more problems for you and harm others. But feeling angry tells you that some changes are needed. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Emotions are an excellent catalyst for learning life lessons. Sometimes this means learning the truth, but at other times this means unlearning what is false.

Emotions are indicators which require interpretation. They aren’t a green light to act inappropriately. If you continue to act spontaneously on your feelings, then at some point you’ll find yourself someplace you’d rather not be. Oh, if we might only be able to taste the regret before we act.

When you have to make a decision that requires discernment (a decision that isn’t obviously right or wrong), they can act more like faith, intuition, or your gut instinct. Thank you, God for this gift of discernment. Help us all to grow in wisdom by your Spirit.