Kaizen

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

I am blessed to be a Christian that happens to do Process Improvement. We often do focused, week long improvement events called Kaizens. Kaizen is a combo of two Japanese words - Kai which means change and Zen which means good. So Kaizen means change for the good or better.
This morning as we were winding up a kaizen week, this verse came to mind. When we make the decision to repent and trust Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, He starts a kaizen event in our lives. Having Christ as Lord of our lives and the Holy Spirit as our guide, God changes us for the better.
As you go into your weekend, think about if you need a kaizen in your own life. Why not trust Christ today?

Prayer ADHD

Seriously, is anyone else with me on this? It seems there are days when we have so much going on that prayer time goes something like this:

“Father God, thank you for another day. You are so good, and I love you...I can’t forget to do the agenda for that meeting later in the week, and I need to follow up with Karen. The dishwasher needs run tonight. I forgot last night...so sorry, Lord. Please forgive my busy mind today...”

I’ll confess I’ve had more than my fair share of prayers go like that, even with so looking forward to prayer time. Even with knowing P.R.A.Y., which we discussed in previous posts. It is frustrating! Then, I started reading the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer. She talks about writing down our prayers so we’ll remember and can record when prayer is answered. It was then that Holy Spirit asked, “Don’t you write out an agenda of items you want to make sure to discuss with your boss when you meet with him? Why not do that with Me to prepare for your time with The Lord?”

When Holy Spirit speaks, we should listen, so I tried it. It has been amazing because it gives quality time with both Holy Spirit and God. First, there is quiet time to listen for what Holy Spirit really wants you to pray about. This time can reveal hidden sin in your life, bring names to your remembrance of who most needs your intercession, time to reflect on who God is. For what do you want to praise Him? What needs surrendered in your life? Is there Scripture to pray? I jot this down in P.R.A.Y. format. This forms a prayer strategy so the Enemy cannot distract me. If I start to get prayer ADHD, I look to my prayer strategy to get back on track. It really has helped me. I pray it may help others as well.  Have a blessed day!

Dross & Tin

Isaiah 1:25
And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

This verse struck a cord with me when I read it. In fact, in my notes, I asked myself the question, “What is my dross and tin?” You may wonder what in the world dross even is. Dross is all the impurities that separates off of silver when it is refined in the fire. When the silver is pulled out of the fire, all that’s left is pure, shiny silver. We also know that tin is a silver impostor. It is shiny like silver, but it easily rusts. It can put up a temporary front from afar, but upon close inspection & a few storms, you can easily see it is not what it appears to be. And so we as Christians can behave.

The dross in your life is what you’re dragging around with you that prevents you from being all God has planned for you. You know, that stuff you won’t let God have? Part of mine is insecurities from my past. It can be guilt, shame, sin, lies from Satan you’ve bought like they were 10 for $10 at the grocery. Anything that prevents us from being able to reflect the Light of Christ as brightly as we can. Now here is the amazing thing about God and His relationship with us. He wants us to be the purest, shiniest silver ever to reflect His light to the world. Because of this, He will send us through the fire to remove this dross from our lives, and we come out so much better for it. For Him. Proverbs 25:4 tells us, “Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.” So while the fire is tough, you’ll be a vessel for the finer coming out!

We also need to monitor ourselves for tin in our lives. Tin is those things you do or say that have the appearance of being for God, but really are for yourself. Sometimes this is related to our dross. For example, with these insecurities that the Lord is slowly refining away, I sometimes think I need but actually only want to know I’m doing a good job at fill in the blank. I don’t need to know this. I want to know this to feed my own insecurities so I end up going beyond the extra mile. Not for God’s glory but to hear or feel like I’m doing a good job. That is tin. Paul tells us in several places that we’re to do all things to the glory of God and not for man. I had a lesson on that just this week and am working to throw that tin in the trash, not to be recycled! I praise the Lord for a wonderful friend who sharpens my iron!

What dross & tin is in your life? Are they interconnected? Let the Lord throw you in the fire for a bit and see how you come out for the finer.

What We Need Is Grace

There is a lot going on right now in this world.  Most of it is surrounding being easily offended and being “intolerant”.  What is going on?  You can’t voice your opinion without making people mad, friends unfriending each other on Facebook, or relationships being damaged.  What has happened?  We have disregarded grace along with the One that provides it.

First, we have to receive grace to fully be able to give it.  How do we do this?  Ephesians 2:4-5 and 8-10 reads:

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵Even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive together with Christ, (by whose grace you are saved;)
⁸For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, that any man should boast.  ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.

Here we can see that we receive grace from God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.  What is faith?  Faith is to have confidence in the testimony of another.  Therefore, to have faith in Jesus Christ, you must have confidence that He is who He said He is – God in the flesh, Redeemer, Son of God, propitiation for our sins, and too many more to list.  If you have faith in Christ then you receive God’s grace.

What is grace?  Grace is unmerited favor.  Let’s take a look at that equation then:

Confidence in the testimony of Jesus Christ = Unmerited favor with God

Pretty simple.

Let’s take this a step further then.  This is the amazing part!  God doesn’t just grant us His grace so we can have eternal life.  He gives us this grace (and love) so we can give it to others.  He expects us to do this and provides us with an unending supply.  Take a look at 2 Corinthians 9:8:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

Also look at Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

We can see in both of these passages that God grants us grace so we can abound in it and minister it to those around us.

When we lack in grace, it is because we’re not plugged into The Source, and then we become focused on tolerance.  The definition of tolerance is to accept or endure (someone or something unpleasant or disliked) with forbearance.  Wait!  What?  Tolerance doesn’t change my opinion or view of you or your actions.  I simply keep my mouth shut.  I don’t want that from people, and I don’t want to behave that way toward others.  I want to give and receive grace.

To really see the difference, let’s dig into the definition of grace – unmerited favor.  Unmerited means we don’t deserve it.  I know I have those days that I’m not on my best behavior or I may have views we can’t agree on or I may have some sin in my life that bothers you.  That all makes it unmerited.  What is favor?  Favor is overgenerous, preferential treatment.  Now read the definition of tolerance again.  Which do you prefer?

Now don’t get me wrong that offering grace does not mean that people get a free pass to live with sin in their lives.  A piece, if you will, of that grace is loving someone enough to hold them accountable for their actions.  To see what God sees in them, and challenge them in love to be that person.  That may include calling sin out in their life.  That does not mean you are not offering grace, but rather you want God’s very best for their life. 

Over the past couple years, I’ve had the privilege of having a boss and a friend that has filled this role in my life.  While some conversations are hard to process, I am so thankful for them.  They have seen something in me that I had never saw and challenged me to reach higher, have more faith, trust more, and be bolder.  I am so thankful they didn’t just tolerate me where I was.  I am so much better for it.

Next time someone calls something out in your life, don’t cry for tolerance.  Prayerfully search your heart with God’s guidance to see if they’re not actually offering grace and love through accountability.  It could change your life...and your eternity.

When's Your Expiration Date?

With my job, there is a report I review monthly for the hospitals in our system that shows patients who have readmitted.  Part of that report shows where they went when they left the hospital - home, nursing home, etc.  One of the options, so to speak, is listed as "expired."  At first this bothered me; it felt very impersonal.  I thought, "We're people, not gallons of milk."  However, a couple weeks ago when I was working with the report again, this verse came to mind:

And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

 That got me digging and then I found this verse too:

Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth?  Job 7:1

It made me realize we DO have expiration dates.  God has our days numbered and knows exactly how many days we have on earth.  We don't know our expiration date, and that is why it is so important to heed the Holy Spirit's calling when we hear it.  He is calling to each of us to accept Christ.  Are we listening?  Are we heeding His call?

That verse in Hebrews describes what will happen to us.  We will reach our expiration date and then we will stand before judgment.  Not for our works or our own righteousness, for they are but filthy rags before the Lord. (Isaiah 64:6)  God will look for the blood of Christ to be applied to our life, and that's it.  That will determine where we spend eternity - with Him in Heaven or without Him in Hell.

As we wind up this holiday season with Christmas quickly approaching.  Think about that baby in the manger and what He really came for so many years ago.

Joy

This is the third week of Advent - Joy.  While looking for a graphic to post on our church Facebook page, I came across the one above.  It hit me because yesterday I was speaking with a colleague who also traveled the journey of infertility.  We talked about how difficult it was, but continuing in faith and finding something in the midst of it.  We couldn't really describe it.  She used the word "contentment", but I think we both knew it was more than being content.  Then this morning, I saw this and knew what it was we were trying to describe - it is joy.  Joy does not equate to happiness; oh, quite the contrary.  We both spoke of the indescribable sorrow we have felt, but in the midst of the deepest sorrow, you can still find joy.  Joy then does provide contentment and peace in the situation because joy does not come from ourselves.  It only comes from the One in whom we have faith - Jesus Christ.

So during this Advent season, ponder on what you can find joy in during difficult times. Ponder while you're waiting for an answer on the One who has the Master plan for your life.  Think on the Child in whom's arrival we're preparing to celebrate, and why He was sent here.  

Planted

Bro. Larry Hufhand preached at our church this past Sunday.  He has been doing a series for us about Psalm 1.  This Sunday he focused on verse 3, and a word jumped out at me.  It was the word "planted".  Let's see what verse 3 says:

He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

This word struck a cord with me because according to the Dictionary, planted is a verb that means "To place or set (seeds, for example) in the ground to grow."  That is a very intentional act.  If you are the "blessed man" that is being talked about in this first chapter of Psalms, and you can deduct if you think you fall into this category by reading the first two verses, you have been intentionally placed in the spot you are in right now by God to serve a specific purpose.  This should be very encouraging!  Sometimes we go through trials that are not of our own doing, but we can always know that there is absolutely a specific purpose behind it!  That is pretty awesome to know!

Now, what sometimes happens is we don't like where God plants us, so we uproot ourselves and move to where we think we should be.  Been there, done that, and hope to not do it again because it never works out.  We need to bloom where we've been planted!

So as we go through our week this week, let's take a look in the mirror to see if we are living a life God can bless.  If we are, then praise God for where He has planted you.